A new police tactic is opening the door to warrantless searches
of individuals, vehicles and homes.
To generate the “reasonable suspicion” that courts require
for police to conduct
such a search, officers
are claiming to smell
marijuana, possession
of which is still illegal
in Virginia, according
to defense attorneys and
area residents.
“It’s hard to crossMr. Chavis
Ms. DesPortes
examine on an odor,”
said criminal defense attorney Betty Layne DesPortes, who said
it has become common to hear officers across Central Virginia
use the reason of an illegal
smell in court testimony to
justify an otherwise inexplicable search.
“They need ‘reasonable
suspicion,’ ” she said.
Omari Al-Qadaffi, an East
End activist and founder of
the anti-racism Leaders of the
New South, has issued several
Facebook posts about the use
of what he calls “Richmond’s
new stop-and-frisk.”
He posted the messages after hearing multiple anecdotes
about people being stopped
by officers claiming to “smell
marijuana” and receiving a
pat down.
He’s not alone.
The New Virginia Majority and Legal Aid Justice
Center have been pressing the
Richmond Police Department
for details of police stops of
African-Americans in lowincome areas of Richmond.
The Southside Chapter of the
New Virginia Majority held a
“power” march Monday evening to protest the lack of data
on what it consider the overuse
of police stops.
The department has advised
both organizations it does not
collect the kind of detailed data
Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press
on police stops of individuals
that the two organizations are
seeking.
Justin-Mychal White, 28, adjusts the straps of his 2-year-old daughter Reagan’s new backpack last Saturday
The department also deat the 10th Annual Back-to-School Rally sponsored by the Northside Coalition for Children. Reagan’s older
clined
to comment or provide
brother, Jeremiah seems like an old pro with his new backpack. The 6-year-old will be a first-grader at Longdale
data
in
response to Free Press
Elementary School in Henrico County in the fall. The nonprofit coalition gave away the backpacks stuffed with

Richmond School Board accepts resignations
of former Carver Elementary School
Principal Kiwana Yates and 5 others alleged
to be part of SOL cheating ring.
More resignations expected, official said.

By Ronald E. Carrington

The Richmond School Board
accepted the resignations of former Carver Elementary School
Principal Kiwana Yates and five
other school employees named
by state officials as part of a
cheating ring at the school.
Following a closed session
Monday night, the board voted
to accept the resignations of
former Assistant Principal Fay
Joyner and teachers Evette
Cartwright, Kayiesha Golds,
Chireda Cotman and Betty
Alexis.
A board member said at least
three additional resignations
are expected.
A report by the Virginia Department of Education released
by Richmond schools officials
last week alleged that Ms. Yates
orchestrated a cheating ring to
ensure students at the Leigh
Street elementary
school
scored
high on
state Standards of
Learning
tests.
Mr. Kamras
T h e
state investigation was launched
earlier this year after “testing
irregularities” were discovered,
chiefly that a majority of Carver
students who passed reading
and math SOLs in fifth grade
were unable to pass SOLs once
they entered middle school.
According to the 34-page
VDOE report, Ms. Yates gave
special perks to a small, compliant group of teachers who
monitored the tests and inappropriately coached or provided
signals to the students so they
would mark the correct answers.
Superintendent Jason Kamras said last week that Ms. Yates,
who was removed as principal in
June yet remained an employee
of Richmond Public Schools,
and others involved would
not return for the upcoming
school year.
“We allowed them to resign
to avoid protracted legal battles
which would have cost the
Please turn to A4

Ready for school

school supplies at the Richmond Raceway.

Please turn to A4

Plan launched to rename the Boulevard
for tennis great Arthur Ashe Jr.
By Jeremy M. Lazarus

A new effort is underway to rename the Boulevard in
honor of Richmond-born humanitarian and tennis great
Arthur Ashe Jr.
Richmond City Councilwoman Kim B. Gray said this week
she plans to introduce legislation in September to change the
street’s name to Arthur Ashe Boulevard.
“I think it would be very appropriate to honor Arthur Ashe
this way,” the 2nd District councilwoman said. “This could
a first step in renaming streets in honor of other Richmond
greats like Dorothy Height and John Mitchell whom the city
has yet to recognize.”
Ms. Gray said she is submitting the name change proposal

at the request of the Ashe family.
David Harris, nephew of the late Mr. Ashe, broached the
idea at a recent civic group meeting in Scott’s Addition. The
idea already has received significant attention.
This would be the second time such a proposal has been
before City Council. In 2003, 6th District Councilman Walter
T. Kenney Sr.’s proposal to rename the Boulevard in honor
of Mr. Ashe was rejected on a 7-2 vote.
Ms. Gray is taking on the issue because a major portion of the Boulevard is in the 2nd District. She believes
the proposal has a greater chance of success this time. She
said she has heard from businesses and museums along the

GRTC CEO leaving
By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Mr. Green told employees in his email that
the time had come for him to seek “a new opGRTC is looking for a new leader.
portunity and professional growth” after nearly
The search is about to begin following the two decades with the company.
sudden resignation of David Green, GRTC’s
Sheryl Adams, GRTC’s chief operating ofchief executive officer, less than two months ficer, is expected to be named interim CEO
after launching the new Pulse bus
during the board’s search for a new
rapid transit system ushering in a
chief executive.
controversial overhaul of all other
In his email to employees, Mr.
GRTC bus routes.
Green said he had sought to develop
Mr. Green, who had led the coma company of which the entire region
pany since January 2014, notified
could be proud by ensuring GRTC
employees following a special board
offered meaningful service.
meeting Wednesday that he would be
He also ticked off 16 innovations
leaving at the end of August.
he helped usher in since taking over
Mr. Green
It is was not immediately clear
from former CEO Eldridge Coles, who
whether he made the decision to step down or was is now a board member. They ranged from fundforced out by the six-member GRTC board that ing, developing and starting Pulse to the creation
includes three representatives from Richmond
Please turn to A4
and three from Chesterfield County.

Please turn to A4

Mr. Ashe

Free Press wins NNPA award
B2 May 18-20, 2017

Richmond Free Press

Happenings

Celebrating weekend commencements —
‘Cause other people to want to learn,’ Hampton U grads told
Free Press wire reports
daughters and three of her six grandchildren
all are Hampton University graduates.
HAMPTON
Dr. Harvey also awarded two outstanding
Love learning, help others and do your
alumnus-at-large awards to HU graduates
best.
who have impacted the world. The recipients
That was the advice that NASA pioneer
were John B. Spencer, an HU professor
Katherine G. Johnson offered Sunday to
emeritus who was chair of the university’s
the 917 people awarded undergraduate and
Department of Architecture for 25 years,
graduate degrees at Hampton University’s
and Rear Adm. Sylvia Trent-Adams, acting
147th commencement.
U.S. surgeon general and a former officer
Mrs. Johnson is the retired NASA Langley
in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps.
mathematician who was a key to the nation’s
“There is a job for you, graduating Class
early success in manned space flights and
of 2017, in every single occupation known
gained national prominence through the
to man,” Dr. Harvey told the graduates.
movie “Hidden Figures.”
“Look at the dais. Look at Mrs. Johnson.
The 98-year-old West Virginia native
Look at the surgeon general. It is your
who now lives in a retirement community
responsibility to make something happen.
in Newport News was on stage at the comNobody’s going to give you anything. You
mencement, but delivered her remarks in a
make it happen.”
video recording.
In her talk, valedictorian J’niyah Knox“You will do better if you cause other
Wilson
of Hampton directed her classmates
Retired NASA mathematician and pioneer Katherine G. Johnson, 98, gets a laudatory handshake
people to want to learn. And you will do from Hampton University President William R. Harvey after her videotaped commencement
to change the world.
better if you at all times want to learn, address Sunday to graduates and their families.
“Across the globe, there are humans
want to teach, want to help,” she told the
whose lives are afflicted by some oppressive
audience at Armstrong Stadium on campus.
Johnson’s calculations to send a man into orbit and her Presiden- types of ‘isms,’ whether it is sexism, racism, classism, colorism
“You’ve got it made graduating from Hampton,” she contin- tial Medal of Freedom awarded in November 2015 by President or even ageism,” Ms. Knox-Wilson said. “Although those fights
ued. “People already know that you know a lot of information, Obama. He added to her list of awards by bestowing her with are a part of our journey ahead and will be formidable challenges
and you will use it and use it well, because they know that you an honorary doctorate of science from the university, which was to our progress, I know we can win those fights.
picked good information to pass along.”
founded in 1868 and held its first graduation in 1871.
“Do you know how I know? I know because we are resilient,
Hampton University President William R. Harvey noted Mrs.
Mrs. Johnson’s husband, retired Lt. Col. JamesA. Johnson, her three we are purposeful, we are Hamptonians.”

‘Know who you are rolling with,’ VSU graduates are told
By Thomas Kidd
to use your mind, body and talent without your
control over it?”
Virginia State University graduates were told
He then encouraged the graduates to take
in no uncertain terms during commencement time to identify their true value, to master their
last Saturday to “Get Out.”
craft and gifts and to seek a mentor so they
These words came from a fired up Jeff Johnson, won’t fall under the temptation of selling out
a media and messaging strategist who delivered for a paycheck.
the keynote address at the ceremony held in the
“I like money,” Mr. Johnson said as the audience
university’s Multi-Purpose Center.
laughed. “I get excited every time the check clears.
Mr. Johnson, the managing principal of But you don’t have to sell your soul to get it.”
the Baltimore-based strategy firm JIJ ComMr. Johnson did not hold back in citing
munications, referenced the
companies and institutions
blockbuster film of the same
that he said he considers to
name by writer-producerbe sellouts.
director Jordan Peele several
“I’ve been on BET
times during his speech to
and I watched them do it
drive home the necessity of
(sellout),” he said of the Black
African-Americans to sucEntertainment Network that
ceed without selling out.
was co-founded by Sheila
“In the last two years,
Johnson and her former
we’ve seen more content
husband, Robert Johnson, but
on the small and big screens
sold for $3 billion in 2001
produced by those who
to the media conglomerate
look like us,” Mr. Johnson
Viacom.
told the graduates and their
“I’ve seen people turn their
families.
backs for six figures,” Mr.
The communications exJohnson told the crowd.
pert then singled out the film
He was equally frank in his
not only for its financial
criticism of Bethune-Cookand critical success but
man University in Florida.
for having a message relThe historically black instievant for African-American
tution invited U.S. Secretary
graduates about to enter the
of Education Betsy DeVos
workforce.
to be their commencement
“As you go out into the
speaker last week despite
VSU valedictorian Stacey Elder
world, know who you are
petitions signed by hundreds
rolling with,” he told the audience. “Chris didn’t of students, alumni and supporters of the college
know who he was rolling with,” he said about urging the university’s administration to rescind
the film’s main character, an African-American the invitation.
who had a white girlfriend whose parents were
Earlier this year, Mrs. DeVos, who was apwealthy.
pointed to the cabinet post by President Trump,
He went on to explain that Chris couldn’t called HBCUs “real pioneers when it comes to
identify with his girlfriend’s values, cultural back- school choice,” failing to realize and acknowlground and, more importantly, family history.
edge that most of the colleges were the only
“Who you talk to, hang with and be around option for African-American students because
have a lot to do with your success,” he said. of segregation.
“Are you aware that there is a system set up
During her commencement address May 10,

Mrs. DeVos was interrupted by persistent boos
from the crowd, while about half the graduates
stood and turned their backs on her. BethuneCookman’s president, Dr. Edison O. Jackson,
was widely criticized by students, their family
and alumni, for inviting Mrs. DeVos on such
an important occasion.
“You don’t stand for a legacy when you
invite folk who don’t believe what you believe
or support you,” Mr. Johnson told the VSU
graduates and their families.
He ended his address with gentle words of
hope and a charge to the graduates to pay back
the blessings they have received thus far.
“It is my hope that you will be the freest human beings — whether black, Hispanic, Asian or
white. Get out, but go back in and build up.”
With 624 degrees conferred on Saturday, VSU
officials elected to have a morning and afternoon
ceremony to accommodate the graduates, their

Photos by Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Models strut the runway, showing off fashion forward designs
at Runway 2017: LAUNCH. The
event last Wednesday showcased
125 original garments designed
by juniors and seniors in Virginia
Commonwealth University’s Department of Fashion Design and
Merchandising. The show, held
at the Virginia Museum of Fine
Arts, drew a crowd that was awed
by the fashion segments featuring knitwear, dresses, menswear
and denim, among others. The
production was staged by VCU
students in collaboration with
faculty and sponsors.

families and friends in the new facility. Mr.
Johnson performed double duty, offering the
keynote address at both.
VSU also recognized two outstanding students
— valedictorian Stacey Elder of Richmond, who
had a perfect 4.0 GPA in earning a bachelor
of science degree in management, and Aicha
Camara who was this year’s winner of the annual Reginald F. Lewis Prize that is awarded
to a senior in the VSU College of Business.
Ms. Camara was presented with a plaque and
a check for $1,000.
Retired Lt. Col. Darryl W. Sharp Sr. received
the Virginia State University Alumnus of the
Year Award.
“We are proud to call you grads, scholars
and Trojans,” VSU President Dr. Makola M.
Abdullah told the graduating class. “In the
words of The Temptations, ‘Get ready ’cause
here they come!’ ”

The Richmond Free Press
has been recognized with a
national award.
The Free Press won the
Ada S. Franklin Best Women/
Lifestyle Award June 28 at the
National Newspaper Publishers
Association’s annual convention in Norfolk.
Judging for the category
was based on layout, photos,
extensiveness and variety of
local coverage and comprehensiveness of stories and columns
in two consecutive issues of the
Free Press published in 2017.
The winning sections, from
May 2017, included the Free
Press Personality, along with
coverage of commencement
Please turn to A4

Richmond Free Press

May 18-20, 2017

B3

Happenings

VUU, VCU, VSU and Hampton Class of 2017
‘We all fail. The key is what you do that
next day,’ Gov. McAuliffe tells VUU grads

By Saraya Wintersmith
statement accompanying the May 5 appropriations act signed
by President Trump to keep the federal government operating
Gov. Terry McAuliffe stressed the importance of taking chances through Sept. 30.
and embracing setbacks as he addressed Virginia Union UniverIn the statement, the White House announced that it would
sity’s Class of 2017 during commencement on Saturday.
treat a program that helps HBCUs obtain low-cost construction
He said his own path to entrepreneurship and his loss of the loans “in a manner consistent with the (constitutional) requireDemocratic gubernatorial nomination in 2009 were not easy.
ment to afford equal protection of laws.”
“You’re going to fail. We all fail. The key is what you do
Many HBCU administrators and supporters fear the statement
that next day,” the governor said.
signals that President Trump will end a capital financing program
“I got crushed 2-1” in that initial primary election, he said. that helps HBCU repair, renovate and build new facilities.
“It was a painful experience.
The VUU audience groaned in
“But let me tell you something, folks.
disapproval at Gov. McAuliffe’s menI got out of bed that next day and I got
tion of it.
right back to work and I spent four years
“I’d be lying if I sugarcoated the world
crisscrossing the Commonwealth of
you are about to inherit,” the governor
Virginia, and that is why I am now the
told the graduates. “Like generations
72nd governor of the Commonwealth
past, you will be charged with doing
of Virginia,” he said to the cheering
everything in your power to make it a
graduates and their families.
better world. The good news is, Virginia
Commencement for the 152-year-old
Union University has prepared you to
historically African-American institurise to that challenge.”
VUU Co-Valedictorians
tion was moved because of the threat
He also acknowledged three highNhat Hoang Van Le and Taylor White
of foul weather from Hovey Field on
achieving students during his remarks.
campus to St. Paul’s Baptist Church in Henrico County. The
He praised Dominique Vaultz, a mass communications major
university awarded 177 undergraduate degees, 133 master’s from New York, for her achievement as a first-generation college
degrees and 13 doctorates during the ceremony.
student, and announced her acceptance to Emory University’s
Gov. McAuliffe offered remarks in his usual lively, high-energy Law School.
style before receiving an honorary degree and then dashing off
He also hailed VUU’s co-valedictorians, Nhat Hoang Van Le
to Wake Forest University in North Carolina for the commence- of Vietnam and Taylor Lauren White of Maryland, who both
ment of his daughter.
had 4.0 GPAs.
He described for the audience the national political climate
In his own address to the graduating class, Mr. Le thanked
in 2013, around the time that many students from the graduating the university for its support as he became VUU’s first graduate
class arrived and enrolled at VUU.
with a triple major of chemistry, mathematics and physics.
“We had just re-elected America’s first black president. ISIS
Remarking on the emotions connected with moving on from
was not yet a household name, and for some people, for some college, Gov. McAuliffe said he also found the occasion equally
reason, they thought Macklemore was actually a good rapper,” festive and bittersweet.
he said, laughing with the crowd.
“As governor, I have given many commencement addresses,”
“Today we find ourselves in a world where saying ‘Black he said. “This will be the last address as governor, so I clearly
Lives Matter’ is somehow a political statement and where a saved the best for last,” he said to cheers.
president of the United States just this week questioned the
Also receiving honorary degrees were the Rev. Yvonne J. Bibbs,
value and constitutionality of HBCUs,” he said, referring to a the first female pastor in the 94-year history of Sixth Baptist Church

Marquis Johnson of Newport News is elated to get his
degree in mass communications from Virginia Union
University during Saturday’s ceremony at St. Paul’s
Baptist Church in Henrico.

in Richmond, in recognition of her “outstanding humanitarian efforts” in Richmond and in the state; VUU benefactors James E. and
Barbara B. Sellman, who have donated more than 300 pieces of art
to the university’s Museum Galleries from their worldwide travels
and art collecting; and Dianne Watkins Walker, who spearheaded
the effort to restore a carillon in the university’s historic Belgian
Building through the nonprofit she founded, Bells for Peace, and
to repair the building’s exterior and light the tower.
Former VUU President Claude G. Perkins also was granted
the title of president emeritus by the VUU Board of Trustees.

The graduating class of Virginia
Commonwealth University received
a message aimed at the head as well
as the heart during Saturday’s commencement exercises.
University President Michael Rao
thanked the graduates for assisting
VCU in becoming one of the premier
research universities in the country,
and then offered a unique twist on
how they should continue the learning process.
“Changing your mind is not a
sign of weakness,” President Rao
told the graduates. “But it is a sign
that you know more than you knew
yesterday.”
He went on to encourage them
to enter the next phase of their lives
challenging generally accepted beliefs,
including things they learned at VCU.
To further support this view, he quoted
George Bernard Shaw, “Progress is
impossible without change. Those
who cannot change their minds can’t
change anything.”
“We are counting on you,” he
told the audience at the Richmond
Coliseum for the commencement,
where more than 5,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees
were conferred.

He then introduced the morning’s
keynote speaker, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine,
a former Virginia governor and former Richmond mayor who ran for
vice president in November on the
Democratic ticket with presidential
candidate Hillary Clinton.
Sen. Kaine said that while he graduated from the University of Missouri
and Harvard Law School, he enjoyed
a long and intimate relationship with
VCU.
“All three of my kids attended VCU
and I’ve been many times to the MCV
emergency room,” he quipped.
He said he was honest with himself
about his role as keynote speaker.
“No one is interested in what a
graduation speaker has to say,” he continued. “I remember nothing of what
my high school graduation speaker
said — and I was the speaker.”
He said he did, however, remember
an after-graduation conciliatory kiss
from his ex-girlfriend and also recalled
being too cool to hug his parents, offering them handshakes instead.
He advised graduates that before
they embark on an evening of celebration, they should reconcile any
ill feelings they have with classmates
or professors and then to show enthusiastic appreciation to those who
helped them to get to this point in

Newly minted nurses celebrate receiving their degrees during the
Virginia Commonwealth University commencement Saturday at the
Richmond Coliseum.

their life.
He then detailed three experiences
in his life that illustrate the power
of listening. A congressional aide
impressed him, he said, with her
ability to calm ranting constituents
simply by allowing them to vent.

The second involved a conversation
with a Republican colleague in the
Virginia General Assembly who he
discovered by listening that he had
more in common with philosophically
than he originally thought.
The last example involved a

cultural connection he made while
campaigning for vice president. He
said he was the first candidate on
the national ticket to speak fluent
Spanish. And after talking on the
campaign trail with voters from a
Latino community, he discovered they
were not impressed so much by the
fact that he could speak with them
in Spanish, but that he could listen
to them in their language.
“You will find that listening will
be involved in many aspects of your
success. People just want to be listened
to,” he said.
Returning to the podium, President
Rao let the senator know his words
didn’t fall on deaf ears.
“Senator, they were listening,”
President Rao said.
Also at the ceremony, VCU recognized Pamela K. and William A.
Royall Jr. with the Edward A. Wayne
Medal, which honors individuals who
have made outstanding contributions
or provided exemplary service to the
university.
Sogand Karimian, who majored in
nursing, also received the VCU Board
of Visitors Award, which recognizes
an outstanding undergraduate for
academic achievement, leadership
and service to the university and
community at large.

Virginia Beach woman wins
Miss USA crown, stirs controversy
Miss District of Columbia USA Kara McCullough was
named Miss USA 2017 during the annual pageant held Sunday
in Las Vegas.
Little did the 25-year-old scientist from Virginia Beach know
that after triumphing over 50 other contestants, her crown would
come with controversy. Her first days as Miss USA have been
spent trying to put out the flames that her words ignited.
It all started during the Q&A portion of the pageant, when
contestants must show off their poise and knowledge in answering questions related to current events.
Ms. McCullough, who graduated with a degree in chemistry from South Carolina State University and now works at
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, was asked whether she
considered affordable health care for all United States citizens
a right or a privilege.
“I’m definitely going to say it’s a privilege,” she answered
Sunday night. “As a government employee, I am granted health
care and I see firsthand that for one to have health care, you
need to have jobs.”
During another question-and-answer round, she was
asked her opinion on feminism and if she considers herself
a feminist.
She responded that she would like to exchange the term for
“equalism.”
“I don’t want to consider myself like this die-hard, you
know, like, ‘I don’t really care about men,’ ” she continued.
“One thing I’ll say, women, we are just as equal as men when
it comes to opportunity in the workplace.”
When she won, social media blew up over her answers to
the pageant questions, particularly the notion that health care

should be tied to a job.
On Tuesday morning, she went on ABC TV’s “Good Morning
America” to respond to the mounting backlash. In talking with
host Michael Strahan, she shifted her earlier stance.
“I am a woman. I’m going to own what I said,” she told Mr.
Strahan. “I am privileged to have health care, and I do believe
that it should be a right. And I hope and pray moving forward
that health care is a right for all worldwide.
“I am privileged to have health care. I want people to see
where I was coming from. Having a job, I have to look at health
care like it is a privilege,” she continued.
With regard to feminism, Ms. McCullough said she wanted to
be clear that women should get the recognition they deserve.
“I don’t want anyone to look at (it) as if I’m not all about
women’s rights because I am,” Ms. McCullough said on the
show Tuesday. “We deserve a lot when it comes to opportunity
in the workplace as well as leadership positions. I’ve seen and
witnessed firsthand the impact women have.”
As Miss USA, Ms. McCullough will go on to represent the
United States in the Miss Universe pageant.
This is not the first crown for Ms. McCullough, who was
born in Naples, Italy, to a military family. She was crowned
Miss South Carolina State University at the historically black
college in Orangeburg in April 2012.
She is the second consecutive Miss District of Columbia to
win the Miss USA pageant. Deshauna Barber, a 2011 graduate of
Virginia State University and commander in the Army Reserve,
was Miss USA 2016.
Ms. McCullough said she wants to inspire young people to
pursue careers in the STEM fields.

Miss District of Columbia USA Kara McCullough reacts
Sunday as she is announced as Miss USA 2017. The
25-year-old scientist from Virginia Beach was crowned
by Miss USA 2016 Deshauna Barber, a 2011 graduate of
Virginia State University.

Richmond Free Press

A2 August 9-11, 2018

Local News

New mobile health
van to provide food
pantry, HIV testing
A new mobile health van will carry food and provide HIV
testing to people in low-income communities in Richmond and
the surrounding counties.
The mobile unit is a venture of the Nationz Foundation, a
three-year-old health services organization based in Henrico
County that works to address HIV and AIDs. The new mobile
unit will help the organization expand its existing health and
hunger-relief programs particularly to underserved communities
and the LGBTQ community.
Put into service Thursday, Aug. 9, the van will enable the foundation to provide help to people with limited transportation.
“This van will allow us to take our services where they are
needed most and eliminate the barriers that often prevent those
who need help from seeking it,” said Zakia K. McKensey, founder
and executive director of the foundation.
The new mobile will operate three days a week, Ms. McKensey said, and is expected to serve hundreds of families a month
through the distribution of food, health education and testing.
The van will be based at the foundation’s headquarters at
1200 Bentley St., off Brook Road just north of the city line,
Ms. McKensey said.
She said the foundation is an outgrowth of her 15 years of
experience in HIV education and prevention with the Fan Free
Clinic and the Richmond City Health District.
Ms. McKensey started the foundation in 2015 to increase
education and information efforts related to HIV prevention,
health and wellness, to link HIV patients to care and support
and to help people learn how to care for themselves.

Meeting Aug.15
on Brook Road
bike lane plans
By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Civic leaders in North Side will get their first look at an
updated City Hall plan to install bike lanes on Brook Road and
reduce space for traffic to one lane in each direction.
Two City Council members, Kim B. Gray, 2nd District, and
Chris A. Hilbert, 3rd District, have arranged the Wednesday,
Aug. 15, meeting to allow the presidents of civic associations
to see the plans and get responses to their concerns.
“I’m trying to get all their questions answered,” Ms. Gray said.
The meeting is to be held at the Richmond Public Library’s
Ginter Park Branch, 1200 Westbrook Ave.
This is just a first step to provide information on the plan
to affected neighborhoods, Ms. Gray said. She and Mr. Hilbert,
City Council president, plan to host a public meeting on the
$1.3 million bike lane plan in September, though a date and
location are still to be determined, she said.
She said she welcomes this first meeting because she has not
had any information she could share in response to questions
from constituents.
She said the city has largely stonewalled in providing information or responding to questions she and Mr. Hilbert have
posed, one reason she and Mr. Hilbert have introduced legislation
seeking to kill the plan.
Both have promised to hold the public meeting before the
legislation is brought up for a council vote.
Ms. Gray said the project plans posted on the city’s website
are difficult to understand and she has been told they do not
resemble the Department of Public Works’ proposed project.
Jakob Helmbolt, who heads development of Richmond’s bike
lanes as the city’s pedestrian, bicycle and trails coordinator,
declined to respond to Free Press questions about the project.
The proposal would reduce traffic lanes on Brook Road between
Azalea Avenue in North Side and Charity Street in Gilpin Court.
The idea would be to use one lane in both directions for parking
and bike travel, with one lane reserved for vehicle traffic.

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Cityscape
Slices of life and scenes
in Richmond

City officials and representatives of five overseas cities join Monday in unveiling Richmond’s
new International Guidepost at Kanawha Plaza amid a downpour. The new sign celebrates Richmond’s Sister City relationship with Richmond upon Thames, England; Saitama City, Japan;
Ségou, Republic of Mali; Windhoek, Namibia; and Zhengzhou, China. Saitama’s representatives
included members of the Japanese city’s Little League baseball team. Richmond began a relationship with its English namesake in 1930 and began forging bonds with additional cities in 1980
after forming the 13-member Sister Cities Commission.

City alleys now to receive
maintenance on regular schedule
By Jeremy M. Lazarus

The roar of heavy equipment over a
backyard fence signals the start of work
on another alley.
Suddenly, with little publicity, city
alleys are starting to get regular attention and care.
The Richmond Department of Public
Works confirms that it has the crews,
equipment and funding in place to
regularly regrade, regravel and repair
the city’s 3,000 alleys on a two- to
three-year schedule.
That’s a big change for a city that
struggles to keep its streets in good repair
and falls short on having the money to
repair sidewalks or install new ones.
“We understand that alleys play a key
role in the lives of many of our citizens,
and we want our citizens to be able to
traverse them as easily as possible,”
Bobby Vincent, director of the Department of Public Works, stated in an email
to the Free Press.
As the result of securing sufficient
alley funding, the department no longer is “blitzing” alleys or conducting

special repairs, but instead is making
alley repairs and improvements “part
of our normal maintenance schedule,”
Mr. Vincent said.
Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s administration made a big splash of providing more
than $700,000 to the department for an
“alley blitz” to make improvements to
1,500 alleys last summer and fall. That
was five times the number the department
was able to improve in 2016, when the
funding was far less and only one crew
was assigned to handle the work.
Now, two to four crews work daily
on alleys, he said.
Mr. Vincent stated that he dropped the
“blitz” approach after the mayor and City
Council assured him that similar funding was available for alley work in the

Paige Hairston/Department of Public Works

current 2018-19 budget, enabling DPW
to keep the momentum going.
Additional funds for alleys also became available, he stated, as the result
of an internal reorganization that allowed
the department to accomplish its goals
for filling potholes but at less cost.
The department’s goal is to improve
1,300 alleys a year, with all 3,000 city
alleys improved at least once every three
years. He said about 10 percent, around
300 alleys, would get more frequent
service because of high traffic volume
or problems with erosion.
He said crews already have improved
500 alleys this year despite frequent
heavy rains that have slowed the pace.
He said work has been rescheduled for
weekends to get more done.

Mariane M. Jorgenson/Department of Public Works

Jesse Hendren, above, uses a roller to pack down the dirt to improve an alley off Pink Street in Church Hill. He
was part of a city Department of Public Works crew operating in the East End on Monday. Right, William Smyre, a
member of another DPW crew, grades an alley Monday in the 2900 block of Barton Avenue in North Side.

City Council member raises host
of questions on homeless plan
By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Lee statue vandalized
Workers with Envirowash scrub and power wash the base
of the Lee statue on Monument Avenue last Saturday
after the Confederate statue was vandalized sometime
overnight between Aug. 3 and 4. The state Department of
General Services, which owns and maintains the statue
at Monument and Allen avenues, paid more than $4,400
for the cleanup. The department also is offering a $1,000
reward for information in the case. “While we respect
the rights of people to speak freely, this was a case of
vandalism, plain and simple,” stated Col. Anthony S.
Pike, chief of the Division of Capitol Police, which is
responsible for protecting the statue. “It crossed a line
into criminal activity and it will not be tolerated.”

City Councilwoman Ellen F. Robertson
feels caught between a rock and a hard
place when it comes to a proposal to create
a housing services center for the homeless
in a church building in South Side.
The 6th District representative believes
the city can and should do better in creating such a center, pointing to Virginia
Beach city government’s new housing
services center as a model of what can
happen when a city takes the homeless
issue seriously.
But she also doesn’t want to leave homeless people without a place to go during
freezing temperatures should the city shut
down its current overflow shelter in the former
Public Safety Building in Downtown.
“To say, ‘No,’without another option is not
the right thing to do,” Ms. Robertson said.
She offered her thoughts following a
community meeting last Wednesday at which
Commonwealth Catholic Charities showed
off plans for the homeless center it wants
to open at 1101 Bainbridge Street.
CCC wants to purchase the church site
for a center that would dramatically expand
services to the homeless and go far beyond
the overnight shelter that it has operated
for the past few years in the old Public
Safety Building near City Hall.
The city spends about $163,000 a year for
services from CCC, it has been reported.
Despite being wooed by city and CCC
officials, Ms. Robertson remains skeptical
about the CCC proposal, particularly after
hearing from Bainbridge area residents who
raised concerns that their up-and-coming
residential neighborhood would become
the central location for hundreds of people
desperate for help with housing, food and

other basic needs.
“I don’t feel the location on Bainbridge
is the right location”
to handle the numbers
of people that CCC
wants to serve, Ms.
Robertson said.
CCC’s proposal,
Ms. Robertson
she said, calls for creation of a one-stop center where homeless
people could sleep, stay on cold days, be
fed and receive housing and health counseling. CCC also wants to add showers,
lockers, a clothes closet and an addition
to provide transitional housing.
As conceived, the site would serve
200 to 500 people daily and also be the
replacement site for the weekend feeding
programs in Monroe Park.
CCC has not filed an application for
a special use permit needed to carry out
the ambitious plan, a permit that would
require City Council approval.
“I don’t think this site can support this
scale of a business,” said Ms. Robertson,
whose vote on a special use permit would be
crucial because she represents the area.
She said she wants to see the 36 other
sites CCC officials reviewed and rejected
before selecting the church site. She said
she also would like the city to issue a
request for proposals that could attract
other property owners.
She also expressed concern that the
CCC program would be located away
from key providers that are concentrated
north of the river.
Nor is she satisfied that CCC’s plan
links well enough with the host of other
homeless service providers in Richmond,
ranging from the Daily Planet to the

Richmond Behavioral Health Authority,
HomeAgain and Rapid Re-housing.
For example, she said that data she
viewed indicate that 60 percent to 70 percent
of homeless individuals have mental health
issues, which often go untreated. She said
ensuring connections to RBHA, the city’s
main addiction treatment and mental health
services provider, would be essential. But
she said there is no evidence RBHA has
been consulted or involved in the planning
for the CCC service center.
There also is no sign, she said, that
CCC or city administrators have included
Homeward, an umbrella coordination
group for homeless services providers, in
the discussions.
“There are a lot of groups involved in
homeless services, but I don’t see them at
the table,” she said.
She said she is worried that City Hall
is more interested in moving the homeless
out of Downtown than in providing a well
thought out solution addressing the problems and barriers the homeless face.
“There wasn’t a single city official at
the community meeting,” she said, leaving
CCC to solely promote its plan.
She said it is unclear whether CCC would
pay the project’s entire cost or whether
the city would need to contribute. She
noted that the city administration has not
advanced any information on how much
it might need to invest.
But Ms. Robertson has not completely
shut the door.
“I think a smaller scale of service could
be considered,” she said, “but not the RVA
Homeless Resource Center that CCC is
proposing to put on a residential lot. The
homeless in Richmond deserve the center
they are building in Virginia Beach.”

A local activist coalition and a victim’s family continue to
question the details of the fatal shooting of 24-year-old MarcusDavid Peters by a Richmond Police officer in May.
Mr. Peters’ sister, Princess Blanding, and the Justice and
Reform for Marcus Peters Coalition challenged the accuracy and
transparency of the Richmond Police Department’s report on the
fatal shooting by Officer Michael Nyantakyi at Mayor Levar M.
Stoney’s Third District community meeting July 31.
According to Ms. Blanding, the Peters family received from
the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner a toxicology
report and the autopsy report of the 2016 honors graduate from
Virginia Commonwealth University.
Ms. Blanding said the toxicology report, which ran more
than 30 drug detention tests, ruled out the presence of multiple
substances. She said it was obvious that Mr. Peters was experiencing a psychotic breakdown and mental health crisis on May
16, the date of the shooting.
Ms. Blanding believes Officer Nyantakyi used unwarranted
excessive force in dealing with Mr. Peters at the time of the
shooting. She said her brother, who was naked and unarmed
during the encounter, was in mental distress.
Mr. Peters died the day after the shooting at a local hospital.
“The RPD, who answers to the mayor, had no idea and
definitely didn’t anticipate that Marcus would have a family
that would continue to fight for him and not back down,” Ms.
Blanding said.
According to Ms. Blanding, the medical examiner’s report also
revealed that there were three bullet wounds to Mr. Peters’ body.
RPD only reported two shots to the abdomen. A third wound
to Mr. Peters’ left arm was never reported or told to the family
by Chief Alfred Durham, she said.
“When I look at the angle the autopsy report provided, it
leads me to believe that there was a third shot. Whose shot was
it and where did it come from?” Ms. Blanding asked.
“There are huge questions surrounding the third gunshot

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Princess Blanding, the sister of shooting victim Marcus-David Peters, confronts Mayor Levar M. Stoney at a July
26 community meeting about the death of her brother, who was shot by a Richmond Police officer on May 16.
Below, members of the Southside Chapter of the New Virginia Majority call for Richmond Police transparency and
accountability during a community march Monday night across the Mayo Bridge.

wound in his arm. There has been zero clarification.”
Ms. Blanding also wants to know why the police body
cam footage stops when a Virginia State trooper tells Officer
Nyantakyi after the shooting to put his gun away and go back
to his police car.
According to Ms. Blanding, the RPD video has evidence and
reference points showing where the officer started, where the
police car is and where the shooting occurs. There are many
inconsistencies, she said.

B:11.5”
T:11”
S:10.5”

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

“At the end of the day, the report confirms that there were
three bullet wounds and the RPD needs to put the truth out,”
Ms. Blanding said.
According to the police report, Mr. Peters hit three cars, led
police on a short pursuit, then got out of his car naked and danced
and rolled on the ground on Interstate 95 at the northbound
entrance ramp from Chamberlayne Avenue before charging at
Officer Nyantakyi.
On July 23, the RPD turned over its report on the investigation of the fatal shooting to Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael
N. Herring. The report by the department’s Force Investigation
Team includes video from the officer’s body camera, witness
statements, security camera video and forensic evidence.
It is now up to the commonwealth’s attorney to determine whether
Officer Nyantakyi will be charged criminally or whether his actions
in shooting the high school biology teacher were justified.
Chief Durham said the department will host a community
discussion about police training in defensive tactics, use of force
and crisis intervention once Mr. Herring’s review is complete.
No time or date has been set for the community meeting.

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Richmond Free Press

A4 August 9-11, 2018

Local News

School Board accepts resignations
Continued from A1

school system a great deal of time and money,” Mr. Kamras
stated in an email Wednesday to the Free Press when asked why
those involved weren’t fired.
“Moreover, we want Carver students, families and staff to
be able to move forward, not be mired in ongoing legal action
about the past.”
Mr. Kamras also reiterated his position on unethical professional behavior: “If you cheat, you can’t work at RPS.”
That stance was supported by School Board Chair Dawn
Page.
“RPS will not tolerate testing improprieties,” the 8th District
representative said. “Our children deserve only highly ethical and
enriched learning environments where instructors are responsible
and demonstrate integrity.”
Mr. Kamras also said he will recommend that the state revoke
the teaching licenses of those involved.
Board member Jonathan Young, 4th District, said the RPS
administration anticipates that Carver teachers Valencia Davis,
Marlin Osborne and Nicole Lacy, who also were named in the
VDOE report, will tender their resignations by the board’s next
meeting on Aug. 20.
He is optimistic about the matter’s resolution because, he
said, it sends a clear signal to parents and the rest of the community that RPS will be transparent and expeditious in dealing
with these issues.
“It should be clear for everyone in Richmond that if education

professionals have engaged in unethical, immoral or unlawful behavior in the past, RPS
has put them on notice,” Mr. Young said.
“I think this is a testament to Superintendent Kamras’ character in taking these
concerns very seriously,” said board member
James “Scott” Barlow, who represents the 2nd
District that includes Carver Elementary.
“There were people that suspected this
Mr. Young
for a long time and no action was taken,”
Mr. Barlow said. “I am glad he moved forward and dealt with
the matter.”
Investigators said Ms. Yates favored an “inner circle” of
teachers who she selected to administer the tests. According to
the report, they received extra benefits, including “special staff
development opportunities — some that involved extensive travel,
additional funding or access to materials for their classrooms —
and preferred access to opportunities to earn additional income,”
such as Saturday Academy and Extended Day.
Ms. Yates also received benefits from Carver’s national recognition as a result of the high-achieving test scores by students
coming largely from low-income backgrounds. She won a $15,000
R.E.B. Award for Distinguished Educational Leadership in March
2015, half of which was for her personal use.
“Carver is going through a very painful time right now,” Mr.
Kamras told the Free Press.
Mariah White, former Carver PTA president, was critical of
the school administration’s initial handling of events, noting

that parents were kept in the dark under the
explanation from RPS officials that it was
a “personnel matter.”
She told the board at Monday’s meeting
that her focus now is on the students and
their success in the coming school year.
“The community needs to step up to the
plate to support the school and the Carver
students,” she said.
Ms. Page
Mr. Young said Carver is expected to
open with a full staff in the fall. He said RPS’ human resources
department has moved to fill vacant teaching and staff positions
throughout the system.
“The board voted to approve the hiring of 116 people on Monday
night,” he said, “and one of them was a new teacher at Carver.”
Tiawana Giles, who served previously as an assistant principal at Oak Grove-Bellemeade Elementary, was named interim
principal at Carver in early July.
Officials said 85 vacant positions need to be filled. Eleven of
RPS’ 44 schools have full staffs, officials said, while 12 schools
each have only one vacancy.
Fifty-three of the openings are at the elementary school
level, with about a dozen vacancies in special education, Mr.
Kamras said.
When schools opened last year, RPS was short 54 teachers.
A new cabinet-level position of chief talent officer, who will
manage recruitment, orientation, compensation and retention of
division employees, has not been filled.

GRTC Plan launched to rename the Boulevard
CEO
leaving
Continued from A1

Continued from A1

of passes providing unlimited
rides, installation of modern
fare boxes and development of
mobile payment apps.
He also led GRTC’s shift
from using air polluting diesel
fuel to power buses to cleaner
compressed natural gas that
now powers 75 percent of
the fleet.
During his tenure, GRTC
also installed its first Downtown
transfer station and inked a
$1.2 million deal with Virginia
Commonwealth University to
provide free rides to students,
faculty and staff on the GRTC
system in the city.
Mr. Green also completed
preparations for a new program to provide free, unlimited
rides on GRTC for Richmond
Public Schools’ high school
students in partnership with
the city.
Mr. Green joined GRTC in
1999 as assistant finance director. He later served as director
of procurement and grants
management and as chief of
staff to Mr. Coles before being
tapped for the top job.

Free Press
wins NNPA
award
Continued from A1

speakers at area universities
and community celebrations
and events.
The NNPA represents more
than 200 newspapers owned by
African-Americans across the
United States.
The theme for the convention: “Sustaining, Engaging
and Mobilizing Black Communities.”
Publisher Brenda Andrews
of the New Journal and Guide
newspaper in Norfolk was the
host publisher for the convention.
The Norfolk publication
placed third for the Frank L.
Stanley Sr. Best Feature Story
Award.
Top honors at this year’s
awards ceremony went to The
Miami Times, which received
the John B. Russwurm Trophy
for the highest score in the
awards categories, and The
Birmingham Times of Alabama,
which received the John H.
Sengstacke Award for General
Excellence.
Karen Carter Richards of
the Houston Forward Times
received the 2018 Publisher of
the Year Award.
The NNPA also presented its
2018 Lifetime Legacy Award
to the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson
Sr., founder and president of
the national Rainbow PUSH
Coalition.

Boulevard that support the renaming.
Ms. Gray also said she hopes Councilman Andreas
Addison, whose 1st District borders a portion of the
Boulevard, will join her in supporting the proposal.
“I am open to exploring any and every opportunity
to celebrate and remember Richmond’s historic leaders,” Mr. Addison stated Wednesday in a response
to a Free Press query. “I support the public process
to explore this renaming of Boulevard. I have not

received any formal information or inquiry about
this name change as of yet.”
Fifth District Councilman Parker C. Agelasto did
not respond to a request for comment by Free Press
deadline. A small section of the Boulevard around
Byrd Park falls into that district.
Mr. Ashe, who is buried in a Henrico County
cemetery, is honored with a statue on Monument
Avenue, the first non-Confederate to have a monument on the street.
He is the only black man to win the singles title

at the U.S. Open, Wimbledon and the Australian
Open.
Outside the sport, Mr. Ashe was an activist and
humanitarian, winning recognition for his opposition
to apartheid in South Africa and for opposing a U.S.
crackdown against refugees from Haiti.
He helped launch Virginia Heroes, a mentoring
program for Richmond area youths, and started the
Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS and
the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health before his
death on Feb. 6, 1993.

‘Smell of marijuana’ new police tactic?
Continued from A1

questions about officers’ use of the “I smell marijuana” claim.
Police Maj. William C. Smith, who has been sitting
in for Chief Alfred Durham who is on vacation, noted
that all city officers “receive training and thorough
guidance on all applicable criminal laws, Constitutional guarantees and rights and new court rulings.
This is an ongoing process as case law changes are
released or take effect.”
Duron Chavis, community engagement manager
at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, experienced such
a police stop around 2 p.m. Aug. 2.
He recounted what happened in a Facebook post
and in an interview with a Free Press reporter.
He said he had just pulled into the Shockoe Commerce Center on Hospital Street in Shockoe Valley
when he noticed blue flashing lights behind him and
two Richmond Police officers leaving their car and
walking toward him.
“One officer announced that he had smelled marijuana coming from my car and also yelled at me, ‘Let
me see your hands, let me see your hands,’ as he approached,” said Mr. Chavis, who is well known for
his advocacy work using gardening to overcome food
deserts in neighborhoods lacking grocery stores.

He also is founder and organizer of Richmond’s
annual Happily Natural Day festival focusing on
health, wellness and social change.
“The cop came up to the car with his hand on his
pistol,” Mr. Chavis continued.
“I don’t smoke,” he said he told the officers.
He said they found nothing suspicious after a
search of his 2010 Jeep Liberty and left.
Mr. Chavis said he was shaken by the experience.
In a response to a Facebook question, Mr. Chavis
wrote that the officer said “he pulled me cuz he
smelled marijuana. From his car. With his windows
up. While both our cars were in motion.”
Mr. Chavis said that neither officer told him that he
had violated any traffic laws to justify the stop. He said
he did not get their names and badge numbers.
“This is what white folks don’t experience,” he
wrote on Facebook, adding sardonically, “Thumbs
up to RPD for their awesome community engagement.”
After receiving a Free Press email recounting
Mr. Chavis’ details of what happened and requesting comment and data, Maj. Smith responded:
“Thank you for bringing this to my attention,
and should you have any further contact with Mr.
Chavis, I would ask that you encourage him to

file a complaint with our Internal Affairs Unit.”
Maj. Smith stated that a complaint would allow
the department to “fully investigate this situation and
therefore be in a position to address any internal issues or explain the totality of circumstances that led
to this encounter.”
Mr. Chavis stated in an Aug. 5 Facebook post that
he would not file a complaint.
“I am too politically active to become any more
of a target by white supremacy,” he said. “I have
kids. Plus I already have people sending anonymous
emails to my job trying to convince Lewis Ginter
to fire me.
“I’m good. I’m already out here risking enough
as it is being vocal and outspoken about this racist ass system as a black man in the Capital of the
Confederacy,” he added.
Still, Mr. Chavis’ posts about his experience have
only added to the current of suspicion officers face
despite programs like National Night Out.
“And they wonder why we as African-Americans
have no respect for the badge,” a person responded
to Mr. Chavis on Facebook.
“No matter how much good you do for the community and how involved you are, they still see you
as a ‘N……’ They see a color and automatically think
the worse.”

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Charlottesville confronts identity,
braces itself, one year after clashes
By Joseph Ax
Reuters

CHARLOTTESVILLE
For many residents of Charlottesville, last year’s white
nationalist rally shattered the city’s carefully curated reputation
as a progressive, idyllic place to live.
But for Nikuyah Walker, an activist who was elected mayor
just three months later, the violent clashes only underscored
deep racial and economic inequities that have long divided
this picturesque college town. In her view, the rally has forced
Charlottesville to confront its own complicated legacy.
“You can have three or four generations who are struggling,
and that family has not been able to move out of poverty wages
– that’s a significant portion of Charlottesville,” Ms. Walker, the
city’s first black female mayor, said outside City Hall. “And
then you have this very wealthy community that loves and
raves about it.”
As Charlottesville braces for the one-year anniversary this
weekend, it is still agonizing over the August 2017 clashes in
which one woman was killed when an Ohio man drove his car
into a crowd of counter-protesters.
Some residents have argued that the vast majority of the
marchers last year were from out of town, but Ms. Walker said
that narrative ignores the city’s broader problems.
She noted that the main instigators of the “Unite the Right”
rally, Richard Spencer, who coined the term “alt-right” to describe
the loose coalition of white nationalists, and Jason Kessler, a
local blogger, graduated from the University of Virginia on the
western side of town.

The rally was billed as a protest over the City Council’s plan
to remove two Confederate statues from downtown parks. Last
year, a judge blocked the city from taking down the statues,
which are encircled by orange plastic fencing and are off limits
to residents.
Several officials including the police chief, the city manager
and the city attorney left their positions after widespread criticism that Charlottesville had been ill-prepared to manage the
hundreds of white nationalists who descended upon it, many
armed with shields, clubs and other weapons.
“We recognize that we have to earn the community’s trust,”
said Brian Wheeler, the city’s chief spokesman. “The way that
we can best do that this year is learn from the mistakes.”
Local and state police have vowed to have zero tolerance for
any violence this weekend, in stark contrast with last year when
some officers did not intervene to break up fights. Virtually the
entire downtown will be closed to vehicles.
Police have said that they are preparing for the worst, even
though Mr. Kessler, who organized last year’s event, lost a bid
to get a permit this year. Instead, he has received permission to
rally outside the White House on Sunday and has said he will
focus on Washington.
The effects of last year’s violence are still felt every day in
Charlottesville.
City Council meetings have frequently devolved into shouting
matches. At a recent community outreach meeting where police
officials detailed security plans for this weekend, residents asked
one after another how they were supposed to trust the police
after 2017.
“Charlottesville has had a tendency to self-congratulation; it’s

constantly in the magazines as the best place to live,” said the
Rev. Will Peyton, who oversees St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.
“The violence was perpetrated by outsiders, yes, but the
response from the black community is like, ‘Really, this isn’t
us? We don’t have a problem here?’ Because, of course, there’s
entrenched inequality and entrenched structural racism,” Rev.
Peyton said.
At the Jefferson School African-American Heritage Center
in downtown Charlottesville, an exhibit documents the struggle
of black residents who fought for equal access to public education.
“I don’t know that people understood that this narrative of
progressive Charlottesville had flaws,” said Andrea Douglas,
the center’s executive director. “Now those flaws have been
exposed.”
When Ms. Walker, 38, announced her run for City Council
last spring after years of activism on behalf of low-income residents, she adopted the motto “Unmasking the Illusion,” aiming
to dispel the notion that Charlottesville was a diverse, liberal
utopia. She has focused her attention on issues like affordable
housing and policing.
Last month, she joined residents on what they called a “civil
rights pilgrimage” to the lynching museum in Montgomery, Ala.,
bringing along soil from a site where a black Charlottesville
man was lynched in 1898.
The Rev. Tracy Howe Wispelwey, a local activist, said last
year’s rally was eye-opening for many in Charlottesville.
“You have a lot of white liberals who have not grappled
with our history and want to dismiss it,” she said. “That’s just
not truth.”

Teachers learn about slavery at Lee’s birthplace
By Courtland Milloy
The Washington Post

STRATFORD, Va.
At Stratford Hall in Virginia, birthplace of
Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, a group of
K-12 teachers gathered recently to talk about
slavery and how to teach it.
How do you convey the horror without horrifying the kids? How do you help them see
the inhumanity of the past and its effect on the
present? How do you explain the unexplainable to a child when many adults can hardly
bear to look?
It’s a challenge. But remarkably, the Lee
family plantation proved to be a place where
teachers could dig deeper into the subject than,
say, some academics tend to do when giving talks
at progressive think tanks in Washington.
A white fourth-grade teacher from Arlington, with 10 years
of classroom experience, explained her approach to teaching
the transatlantic slave trade: She said she made her students sit
closely together on the classroom floor to simulate how Africans
were tightly packed into slave ships.
That did not sit well with some of the other teachers, especially
African-American female educators. “If you want to illustrate
how a packed slave ship looked, use a can of sardines, not our
children,’’ one of them said sternly.
Antoinette Dempsey-Waters, a black social studies teacher at
Wakefield High School in Arlington, said that using children for
slave simulations can be “traumatic and hurtful.’’ She recommended using age-appropriate books, especially autobiographies
of black people who triumphed over slavery, such as Frederick
Douglass.
The exchange between the teachers occurred during a presentation by Lauranett Lee, a professor at the University of
Richmond, who was explaining how teaching about slavery can
be used to develop empathy in younger students.
The fourth-grade teacher had apparently been trying to do
just that. But the approach, however well-intentioned, was
misguided.
That could be corrected.
“That’s why we’re here,’’ Dr. Lee said, “to learn how to teach
that hard history.’’
The teacher took the critique in stride. She said she would
no longer use slave simulations and would find more appropriate teaching tools.
An important lesson had come out of the spirited dialogue,

Stratford Hall

Barb Ballard/freeimages.com

said educational psychologist John L. Johnson. He had come to
Stratford Hall’s annual Summer Teacher Institute, something of
a three-day boarding school for educators, to talk to teachers
about the psychological consequences of slavery.
“What we are dealing with is so vital and volatile that if
people are going to teach it, they have to work through their own
emotions first,’’ he said. In other words, teachers might want to
know what kinds of comments about slavery will probably anger
adults, preferably before broaching the subject with a classroom
of anxious or insensitive kids.
Teachers from throughout the country usually attend the
institute. But because this year’s topic was more localized –
teaching about slavery in Tidewater Virginia – most of the 25
teachers were from Virginia and Maryland.
They immersed themselves in study, attended lectures,
participated in discussion groups and developed strategies for
dealing with the many themes that flow from U.S. slavery’s
250-year history. Interest in slavery, especially in the D.C.
area, appears to have picked up considerably in recent years.
Controversies over Confederate statues and symbols, a deadly
white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, prominent universities
such as Georgetown coming to grips with past profiting from
the slave trade, the opening of the National Museum of African
American History and Culture on the Mall — teachers say such
events have students wanting to know more about the origins
of racial conflict in the country.
But teaching skills and materials haven’t always kept up
with that interest.
Dr. Johnson, who is also a board member of the Virginia

State Conference NAACP, urged teachers to
contact the NAACP when they come across
textbooks that mischaracterize slavery or
black people in general. One such book in
Texas referred to the slave trade as a kind of
immigration program.
A report on teaching slavery, released this
year by the nonprofit Southern Poverty Law
Center, found that only 8 percent of U.S. high
school seniors could identify slavery as the
central cause of the Civil War, 68 percent of
the surveyed students did not know that slavery
formally ended only with an amendment to the
U.S. Constitution and only 22 percent of the
students could correctly identify how provisions in the Constitution gave advantages to
slaveholders.
The D.C.-based nonprofit Teaching for
Change has a list of age-appropriate books on

the topic.
The setting for the summer institute was as evocative as the
topic, with the Lee family’s Great House set upon a 2,000-acre
plantation, along with some of the cabins where enslaved people
lived and a cemetery marker indicating where some were buried.
When the plantation was operating at its peak in 1758, the Lee
family owned about 220 enslaved Africans.
“I think the power of place is important,’’ said Kelley Deetz,
director of programming, education and visitor engagement at
Stratford Hall. She prefers field trips to simulated slave experiences: seeing and touching artifacts, exploring the landscape
“and imagining what life would be for those who lived there,
looking at it from multiple perspectives.’’
John Bacon, president of Stratford Hall, said, “The teacher
institute is one of the most important things we do to connect with
teachers in the classroom and show what a historic site like this
has to offer when it comes to educating about our history.’’
Teachers who participate deserve plenty of credit, too.
One explained to the group why she, a white woman, felt
teaching students about slavery was so important. “I teach in
an area with a diverse population, but whites seem to be afraid
of blacks and keep to themselves,’’ she said. “I don’t want to
live in a society where ignorance of history leads whites to have
unfounded fears of black people.’’
Said Dr. Johnson: “My impression is that the teachers who
came (to the institute) are forerunners to progress — a type of
teacher that is willing to grapple with something that nobody
knows how to teach, in a country that has not yet begun to
understand the profound impact of slavery.’’

A federal appeals court in Richmond on Monday threw out two key permits for the Atlantic
Coast pipeline, a ruling environmental groups
said should halt construction on the 600-mile
natural gas pipeline.
But project developers insisted the ruling
should not result in a lengthy delay.
The pipeline is slated to start in West Virginia
and run through Virginia and North Carolina.
A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals said a U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service permit was “arbitrary and capricious”
because it provided no specific limits for the allowable impact on five threatened or endangered
species. The ruling elaborates on a decision first
issued in May.
The 4th Circuit also vacated a right-of-way
permit from the U.S. National Park Service
because it allows the pipeline to pass underneath
the Blue Ridge Parkway without explaining how
the project would not be inconsistent with the
scenic parkway, which is part of the National
Park System.
“Today’s decision means Atlantic has to go
back to the drawing board,” said D.J. Gerken, a
senior attorney with the Southern Environmental
Law Center, which argued the case on behalf
of the Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife and
the Virginia Wilderness Committee.
“Their plan to cut through two national forests and the Blue Ridge Parkway is no longer

viable,” Mr. Gerken said.
But officials with Dominion Energy, the
project’s lead developer, said it will work with
the agencies to resolve the court’s concerns and
“reinstate our permits as soon as possible.”
“We believe the court’s concerns can be
promptly addressed through additional review
by the agencies without causing unnecessary
delay to the project,” Dominion said in a written statement.
The court’s ruling expanded on its May 15
order on the “Incidental Take Statement,” which
typically authorizes a project to harm or kill no
more than a limited number of threatened or
endangered species. In its May ruling, the 4th
Circuit agreed with environmental groups that
said the Fish and Wildlife Service failed to set
clear limits on the project’s impact.
Dominion said it has already provided the
agency with information needed to issue a
revised Incidental Take Statement to comply
with the court’s ruling.
As for the National Park Service permit,
Dominion said it believes the “extensive public
record and mitigation requirements already in
place provide ample support for the agency to
promptly reissue the permit.”
The agencies did not immediately respond
to requests for comment.
In its ruling, the 4th Circuit said the Blue
Ridge Parkway, which links Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park to North Carolina’s Great
Smoky Mountains National Park, serves as
a recreational and scenic site. The pipeline

would pass underneath the parkway, but the
proposed route would require removing all
of the trees from a portion of nearby forest,
leaving a clearing that would be visible from
at least one key observation point along the
parkway, “thus significantly decreasing the
park’s scenic value.”
The ruling, written by Chief Judge Roger
Gregory, said the National Park Service’s decision
to grant the pipeline a right-of-way permit was
“arbitrary and capricious for failing to explain
the pipeline’s consistency with the purposes
of the Blue Ridge Parkway and the National
Park System.”
In a footnote, the 4th Circuit said the Federal
Energy Commission’s authorization for the
pipeline to begin construction is conditioned on
valid permits from both the Fish and Wildlife
Service and the National Park Service. “Absent
such authorizations, ACP, should it continue
to proceed with construction, would violate
FERC’S certificate of public convenience and
necessity,” reads the footnote.
Monday’s ruling was the second setback in
recent days for a natural gas pipeline planned
for the region. Last week, federal regulators
ordered a halt to construction of a 300-mile
pipeline on a swath of national forest following
a ruling by the 4th Circuit.
In a letter Friday to Mountain Valley Pipeline
officials, the Federal Energy Commission said
the company failed to obtain rights-of-way or
temporary use permits needed for the pipeline
to cross federally owned lands since the court

canceled permits the previous week. The letter
said construction “must cease immediately” on
the pipeline, which would run through Virginia
and West Virginia.
“There is no right way to build these dirty,
dangerous fossil fuel projects, and people in
Virginia and across the country will continue
to come together to fight them until they are
permanently halted,” said Sierra Club Executive
Director Michael Brune.
Developers of the pipelines say they will
help utilities transition away from coal, create
jobs and boost the economy.
A federal appeals court in Richmond has
thrown out two key permits for the Atlantic
Coast pipeline.
Environmental groups said the ruling Monday
by a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals means construction should be
halted on the 600-mile natural gas pipeline.
The judges said a U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service permit was “arbitrary and capricious”
because it provided no specific limits for the
allowable impact on five threatened or endangered species.
They also vacated a right-of-way permit
from the U.S. National Park Service because
it allows the pipeline to pass underneath the
Blue Ridge Parkway without explaining how
the project would not be inconsistent with the
scenic parkway.
Dominion Energy said it will work with the
agencies to resolve the court’s concerns and
“reinstate our permits as soon as possible.”

Richmond Free Press

Ornamental grass in Downtown

Editorial Page

A6

August 9-11, 2018

Mr. Ashe
There’s no question that Richmond native and tennis
great Arthur Ashe Jr. deserves greater recognition in his
hometown.
His laudatory actions both on and off the court merit
a salute that will be visible not only now, but for future
generations. His quiet activism and humanitarian efforts
brought results in the areas of human rights, education
and student mentorship, and greater awareness about and
funding to combat HIV and AIDS.
So to rename the Boulevard in Richmond for Mr. Ashe
is a no-brainer.
But that should be merely the first step.
In this latest effort to honor Mr. Ashe, the city should go
further and do the right thing: Move his statue on Monument Avenue to the intersection of Monument Avenue and
the Boulevard that we hope shortly will bear his name.
Yes, that means taking down the statue of Confederate
Stonewall Jackson that currently sits in the center of that
intersection and replacing it with a true hero — Arthur
Ashe Jr.
We believe it would be an affront to Mr. Ashe’s accomplishments and memory to have a statue to a Confederate
traitor, racist and moral and military failure on a street
bearing Mr. Ashe’s name.
We also don’t want to think that City Council members
and city officials would back such a plan to rename the
Boulevard after Mr. Ashe as a consolation prize for Mayor
Levar M. Stoney’s wimpy Monument Avenue Commission’s
failure to recommend that all the statues to Confederate
treasonists be removed.
We are reminded on this solemn first anniversary of the
horrific, deadly rally by white supremacists and neo-Nazis
in Charlottesville how these statues are more than innocent
representations of history. They remain insidious symbols
of hate and inhumanity.
And now Richmond will spend a third expensive cache of
thousands of dollars on Aug. 19 because neo-Confederates
and Ku Klux Klan sympathizers want to hold another rally
on Monument Avenue — this time to defend against the
removal of the Jefferson Davis statue.
When will Richmond officials learn that in order to move
ahead, we must rid ourselves of these malignant statues?
Monument Avenue and the Boulevard should belong to
true heroes like Mr. Ashe.

Summer heat and
wellness checks
We were a bit amused at first when a story hit our
inbox recently with the title, “How to Build a DIY Air
Conditioner in Minutes for Less Than $10.”
The article and accompanying video showed how to
turn a Styrofoam ice chest filled with ice, two vent pipes
typically used for clothes dryers and a small electric or
battery-operated fan into a makeshift air conditioner.
It was intriguing at first, particularly if you’re into do-ityourself projects or quirky life hacks, as they are called.
But the article gave only light mention to the seriousness of heat-related illnesses, offering a figure from the
National Weather Service that, on average, more than 130
people die each year from the heat.
We checked what we believe to be a better source — the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — and
learned that the figure is much higher. According to the
CDC, an average of 658 people succumb to extreme heat
each year in the United States.
But that figure could be higher because, as the CDC
information stated, heat-related deaths often are unrecognized or misclassified. And heat-related illnesses, such
as heat stroke or heat exhaustion, are not required to be
reported to public health agencies.
The CDC also noted that increased health risks posed by
heat waves — which the center classified as three or more
days with the thermometer reaching at least 90 degrees
— can be exacerbated by limited access to transportation,
medical care and cooling centers.
At greatest risk are children under age 5, seniors age
65 and older, those who are overweight or have medical
conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, the poor and
those who are socially isolated, according to the CDC.
So we were not surprised by the center’s charts showing that heat-related deaths are highest among AfricanAmericans and people of color.
We have been fortunate in Richmond that the usual
sweltering summer heat was replaced recently by slightly
cooler days filled with rain. But temperatures are soaring
now to their typical August levels and may remain in the
90s or reach triple digits for days at a time.
We also are fortunate that the City of Richmond opens
cooling stations in Downtown and South Side when temperatures or the heat index reach 95 degrees. The cooling
stations offer a cooler indoor space for people to stay during critical daytime hours when it’s typically the hottest.
Bottled water, but no food, is available.
Like the CDC, the city also suggests people go to a
local library or visit a friend who has air-conditioning if
they can’t get to a cooling shelter.
If you know someone who lives alone or who may fit
into the higher risk category noted above, we urge you to
check on them during the hot summer weather. A small
act, such as a wellness check by phone or in person, may
save someone’s life.
And with the availability of air conditioning at public
spaces, such as malls, movie theaters and libraries, you can
leave the DIY air conditioner for when the electrical power
goes out for several hours or days following a summer
storm or you just want to put your craft skills to use.

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Sisters need fair share

“The average black woman
in the United States has to work
all of 2017 until August 7 of 2018
to make what the average white
man makes in
2017 alone.
To say this is
a problem is
kind of the understatement
of the year.” –
Sheryl Sandberg at the
National Urban League
Conference on Aug. 1.
With the 2018 National Urban League Conference focused
on the theme “Save Our Cities:
Powering the Digital Revolution,” we could not have chosen
a more appropriate guest to kick
off the event than Facebook’s
Chief Operating Officer Sheryl
Sandberg.
Even better, we were proud
to use the occasion to announce
two important new initiatives.
New research conducted by
LeanIn.Org and SurveyMonkey
in partnership with the National
Urban League shows that there
remains a striking lack of awareness around the pay gap black
women face.
On average, black women
are paid 38 percent less than
white men and 21 percent less

than white women — amounting to almost $879,000 lost over
the course of a typical career.
LeanIn is an initiative of
the Sheryl Sandberg & Dave
Goldberg Family Foundation, dedicated to empowering

Marc H. Morial
women in the workplace.
Our plan is that bringing
awareness to this injustice will
lead to concrete action. Not only
would fair pay for black women
drastically narrow the racial
economic gap, but it would go
a long way toward stabilizing
our national economy. Because
black women disproportionately
are heads of households, fair pay
would create a ripple effect that
could lift entire communities.
Some of the key findings of
the research:
• More than 30 percent of
Americans are not aware that,
on average, black women are
paid less than white men.
• Even when people know
there’s a pay gap, it’s bigger than
they realize. Forty percent of the
people who are aware of this
gap underestimate its size.
• About half of white men
think obstacles to advancement
for black women are gone,

but only 14 percent of black
women agree.
• Nearly 70 percent of people
who are not African-American
think that racism, sexism or both
are uncommon in their company. Yet 64 percent of black
women say they’ve experienced
discrimination at work.
Tuesday, Aug. 7, was Black
Women’s Equal Pay Day. Share
these facts on social media using
the hashtag #38PercentCounts.
The second announcement is
an expanded partnership with
Facebook to offer training in
social media strategy and digital
marketing our 13 Urban League
Entrepreneurship Centers in
Atlanta; Baltimore; Chicago;
Cincinnati; Cleveland; Houston; Jacksonville, Fla.; Kansas
City, Mo.; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; New Orleans; Philadelphia;
and Washington.
The National Urban League
will also join Facebook as a
national adviser, helping to
create new opportunities for
small businesses from underserved communities.
This partnership with Facebook perfectly encapsulates
the focus of our mission on
the intersection between digital technology and economic
opportunity. Empowering our
entrepreneurs through the use of

Shine the light of racial reconciliation
A light shines in Prince Edward County atop the courthouse
where a decision was made 59
years ago to shut down public
schools rather than integrate.
Classrooms
were locked
for five years
in Massive
Resistance to
the U.S. Supreme Court’s
1954 Brown v.
Board of Education decision. Wounds
in the African-American community were cavernous.
The Light of Reconciliation
was dedicated in 2008 and its
permanent memorial marker
on the Prince Edward County
courthouse lawn expresses the
county’s “sorrow for closing
schools.” The marker also
displays these words from the
Prince Edward County Board
of Supervisors: “We grieve for
the ways lives were forever
changed, for the pain that was
caused, and for how those
locked doors shuttered opportunities and barricaded the dreams
our children had for their own
lifetimes; and for all wounds
known and unknown.”
With so many plowshares
being beaten back into swords
of racism in America today,
could such a light ever shine
in the nation’s capital?
I have a dream that, yes, a
National Light of Reconciliation will radiate its message on
the National Mall in Washington
some day. It would be a light
surrounded by statues of men,

women and children of all ages
and races joined hand in hand,
walking out toward every point
on the compass.
There would be words, too,
at the center of that declaration
of our interdependence on our
shared humanity — a formal

Ken Woodley
apology for the atrocity of
slavery, passed by both houses
of Congress and delivered in a
nationally televised broadcast
by whoever is then president
of the United States.
The U.S. Senate and U.S.
House of Representatives
passed separate resolutions a decade ago, but a formal national
apology for slavery has never
been made. We, the people,
cannot allow those words to
remain unspoken.
Slavery gave birth to a
brood of bigotry and pain. Its
offspring clung to the chains,
confining African-Americans
to democracy’s back seat. True
liberty and real justice for all
remains a broken pledge. There
can be no reconciliation without
repentance.
In Prince Edward County, an
estimated 2,000-plus AfricanAmerican children were left
with little or no formal education by the school closings. Most
white children were educated at
a private, whites-only academy.
In 2004, the Virginia General
Assembly created the Brown v.
Board of Education Scholarship
Program and Fund. More than
200 of those Massive Resistance

casualties have been served by
the initiative.
At the time, Virginia House
of Delegates Speaker William
J. Howell played a crucial role
fostering Republican support
for the Democrat-patroned
legislation creating the scholarship program and fund during
a deeply partisan General Assembly session. The late civil
rights icon, Julian Bond, said
it was the first civil rights-era
reparation in U.S. history.
But there is far more harm to
repair in America today, and our
post-World War II commitment to
Europe points the way forward.
The National Light of Reconciliation should be followed by a
domestic Marshall Plan focusing investments in education,
health care, housing, economic
development and infrastructure in
urban and rural communities with
significant African-American
populations.
The positive impacts would
be colorblind, lifting entire
cities and counties. That fact
could persuade a majority of
Americans and their congressional representatives to resist
the arguments of those who
oppose reparations.
Our national wound of race
is real. A week doesn’t pass
without some new headline or
sound bite picking at the scab
until it bleeds. But we can
become America’s new skin,
someday, perhaps, if we keep
growing toward each other —
even erasing the scars.
The writer is a former
reporter and editor of The
Farmville Herald.

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digital tools is a great example
of how to fulfill our conference
theme and power the digital
revolution.
During our conversation, I
asked Ms. Sandberg what she
was like growing up and she said
she was the “bossy girl.”
She asked the men in the
audience to raise their hands if
they’d ever been called bossy.
Few raised their hands. Then
she asked the women.
We know it’s not that women
act in more aggressive ways
than men — it’s just our expectations.
Next time you hear someone
call a little girl called bossy,
walk right up to that person and
say, “She’s not bossy. She has
executive leadership skills.”
The writer is president and
chief executive officer of the
National Urban League.

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Richmond Free Press

August 9-11, 2018

A7

Letters to the Editor

Carver Elementary’s success became
‘a target on its back’

I left the Richmond Public Schools’ community meeting last
week about the Carver Elementary School scandal conflicted
about the entire situation. It was hard for me, as it was for many
parents, to believe what we were hearing.
For years, Carver Elementary has been the jewel of RPS — and
rightfully so. It had resources from the community, Virginia Commonwealth University, corporations and the city, far beyond those of
many other schools. Its students performed well within the confines
of the school and in activities around the city and the region.
But with its success came a target on its back. And there
were those who believed that kids who mostly came out of the
Gilpin Court public housing community could not do so well.
That is why it is not surprising that this new superintendent,
Jason Kamras, would be fed complaints about Carver.
The discoveries in the state Department of Education report

are compelling. They show a disparity between the percentage
of students passing tests while attending Carver and their results
as they moved within the public school system, whether on to
middle school or to other elementary schools.
The investigators looked at the hard numbers and interviewed
Carver students and teachers — many of whom appeared disgruntled — and concluded that the administrator and other individuals
conspired to fix Standards of Learning test scores. Mr. Kamras has
announced that the alleged conspirators, including the former Carver
principal, are in the process of being banned from working in the
city school system. Many of them had stellar careers.
I predict there will be one or more lawsuits against RPS, and
some who sue could prevail. Here is why:
Sometimes the numbers don’t tell the full story. There are
dynamics that exist that can explain how children could excel

at one school and fail miserably at another.
Also, with the best of situations, it is difficult to get the truth
from a 9-year-old. I try often and fail.
I also know that within any workplace, there will be some
who feel left out and discriminated against.
Be that as it may, the die has been cast. The chips will fall.
Yet, the children must continue to stand tall and the reputation
of Carver must remain strong.
The school should not be measured by accusations of mishandling of state Standards of Learning tests. Carver Elementary
is greater than the SOLs, and students must remain proud to go
to the “peanut” school.
PREDDY D. RAY
Richmond

High school civics lesson results in boycott request

I teach government and U.S.
history at a private, all-boys
high school in Baltimore. And
recently, my students and I
were discussing the heightened
climate of hate and racism in
this country. We noticed that
prominently pigmented people
receive the brunt of degradations and insults, including
the recent Starbucks incident,
comments by President Trump
and the wanton police shootings
of unarmed people.
Needless to say, the students
became despondent. Then they
began spewing hate against
groups of people. Trying to allay these prejudicial feelings, I
attempted to explain the power
of group cohesion. I gave them
the example of the NFL play-

ers taking a knee during the
national anthem.
The collective action by a
small group of athletes inadvertently affected a corporation’s
financial bottom line. This in
turn led to the dismissal of
John Schnatter, founder of Papa
John’s Pizza.
I asked my students what
would happen if prominently
pigmented people withheld
patronizing this business for a
day or two. The excitement that
overcame them was priceless.
We continued to discuss the
definition and ramifications of
a boycott. I explained how the
Montgomery Bus Boycott in
the 1950s led to a movement
that changed a nation. That’s
powerful!

To my surprise, the students
began gathering information
on the Papa John’s case. They
brought to my attention that
even though Mr. Schnatter was
relieved from his duties at chief
executive officer, he is still the
majority shareholder.
Currently, Mr. Schnatter is
suing the company to get his
job back. This means that he
still has influence in the operations of the company.
We debated how people
could express their dismay of
being insulted by this corporate
icon. One of the students shouted, “Black dollars matter.”
We continued to discuss
how if, for one day, we as a
group (prominently pigmented
people) could refrain from

spending our dollars with
Papa John’s, would it have an
impact. The consensus was an
astounding yes.
My class and decided on the
following three goals:
• To express our disheartenment with Mr. Schnatter’s verbal insults toward a particular
group of people.
• To demonstrate our collective economic influence and
the ability to wield it when
needed.
• To show our patriotism

while simultaneously exerting
our inherent rights as Americans
that no one will trample, weaken
or disallow.
We ask that people join us in
a boycott of Papa John’s pizza.
We have chosen no particular
date. We thought it would be
easier for people to choose
their own date to refrain from
patronizing the company.
BOBBY BROWN
Baltimore
The writer is a 1993 graduate

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of Howard University and earned
a master’s degree in education
from Virginia Commonwealth
University in 2010.

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STOPS FORECLOSURES,
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NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC OF PETITION
OF VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER COMPANY FOR
APPROVAL OF A PLAN FOR ELECTRIC DISTRIBUTION
GRID TRANSFORMATION PROJECTS PURSUANT TO
§ 56-585.1 A 6 OF THE CODE OF VIRGINIA
CASE NO. PUR-2018-00100
On July 24, 2018, Virginia Electric and Power Company (“Dominion” or “Company”) filed a petition with
the State Corporation Commission (“Commission”) for approval of a plan for electric distribution grid
transformation projects (“Petition”) pursuant to § 56-585.1 A 6 (“Subsection A 6”) of the Code of Virginia.
Specifically, Dominion seeks approval of the first three years (“Phase I”) of its ten-year Grid
Transformation Plan (“GT Plan”). The estimated total proposed investment associated with Phase I is
$816.3 million in capital investment and $101.5 million in operations and maintenance investment.
Pursuant to Subsection A 6, the Commission is required to issue its final order on the Petition within six
months of the filing date.
The Company states that Phase I will focus on seven components of the overall GT Plan including: (i)
smart meters; (ii) customer information platform; (iii) reliability and resilience; (iv) telecommunications
infrastructure; (v) cyber and physical security; (vi) predictive analytics; and (vii) emerging technology.
The Company proposes to fully deploy smart meters and their supporting network infrastructure across its
service territory, which the Company asserts is a foundational component of the GT Plan. During Phase
I, the Company estimates that it will install approximately 1.4 million smart meters across its service
territory.
The Company also proposes to develop and deploy a new customer information platform (“CIP”) to
replace its twenty-year-old customer information system. The Company asserts that the CIP will be a
framework of technologies and applications that together deliver comprehensive customer information and
streamlined transactions, as well as multi-channeled engagement between Dominion and its customers.
The CIP will include, among other things, a customer information system supporting processes such as
metering, billing, credit, service orders, and revenue reporting.
The Company states that to improve reliability and resilience, the Company proposes to (i) deploy
intelligent grid devices; (ii) implement operations and automated control systems; (iii) perform grid
hardening activities; and (iv) implement physical security measures at certain substations. The Company
also states that it proposes to deploy a foundational, forward-looking telecommunications strategy and
solution as a critical and interdependent component of the GT Plan, in addition to a comprehensive
strategy for predictive analytics.
The Company states that it will also monitor emerging technologies and propose investments where
reasonable and prudent. As part of the Petition, the Company is proposing to begin its Smart Lighting
Initiative and to deploy a streamlined net metering application process. Through the Smart Lighting
Initiative, the Company states that it intends to mount intelligent grid devices on certain Company-owned
streetlights.
The Company asserts that Phase I of the GT Plan is reasonable, prudent, and in the public interest, and
states that it will provide benefits to customers in three primary categories: (i) increased reliability and
resiliency; (ii) improved customer experience; and (iii) reduced components of cost of service.

The Commission entered an Order for Notice and Hearing in this case that, among other things, scheduled
a public hearing at 10 a.m. on November 14, 2018, in the Commission’s second floor courtroom located in
the Tyler Building, 1300 East Main Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, to receive the testimony of public
witnesses. Any person desiring to testify as a public witness should appear at the hearing location fifteen
(15) minutes prior to the starting time of the hearing and contact the Commission’s Bailiff. A public
hearing will convene on November 15, 2018, at 9:30 a.m., in the same location, to receive the testimony
and evidence offered by the Company, respondents, and the Commission Staff on the Company’s Petition.
The Company’s Petition and the Commission’s Order for Notice and Hearing are available for public
inspection during regular business hours at each of the Company’s business offices in the Commonwealth
of Virginia. Copies also may be obtained by submitting a written request to counsel for the Company,
Sarah R. Bennett, Esquire, McGuireWoods LLP, Gateway Plaza, 800 East Canal Street, Richmond,
Virginia 23219. If acceptable to the requesting party, the Company may provide the documents by
electronic means.
Copies of the Petition and other documents filed in this case are also available for interested persons to
review in the Commission’s Document Control Center located on the first floor of the Tyler Building, 1300
East Main Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, between the hours of 8:15 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through
Friday, excluding holidays. Interested persons also may download unofficial copies from the
Commission’s website: http://www.scc.virginia.gov/case.
On or before November 7, 2018, any interested person wishing to comment on the Company’s Petition
shall file written comments with Joel H. Peck, Clerk, State Corporation Commission, c/o Document
Control Center, P.O. Box 2118, Richmond, Virginia 23218-2118. Any interested person desiring to file
comments electronically may do so on or before November 7, 2018, by following the instructions on the
Commission’s website: http://www.scc.virginia.gov/case. Compact disks or any other form of electronic
storage medium may not be filed with the comments. All such comments shall refer to Case No.
PUR-2018-00100.
On or before September 11, 2018, any person or entity may participate as a respondent in this proceeding
by filing a notice of participation. If not filed electronically, an original and fifteen (15) copies of the
notice of participation shall be submitted to the Clerk of the Commission at the address above. A copy
of the notice of participation as a respondent also must be sent to counsel for the Company at the address
set forth above. Pursuant to Rule 5 VAC 5-20-80 B, Participation as a respondent, of the Commission’s
Rules of Practice and Procedure (“Rules of Practice”), any notice of participation shall set forth: (i) a
precise statement of the interest of the respondent; (ii) a statement of the specific action sought to the
extent then known; and (iii) the factual and legal basis for the action. Any organization, corporation, or
government body participating as a respondent must be represented by counsel as required by Rule 5 VAC
5-20-30, Counsel, of the Rules of Practice. All filings shall refer to Case No. PUR-2018-00100. For
additional information about participation as a respondent, any person or entity should obtain a copy of the
Commission’s Order for Notice and Hearing.
All documents filed with the Office of the Clerk of the Commission in this docket may use both sides of
the paper. In all other respects, all filings shall comply fully with the requirements of 5 VAC 5-20-150,
Copies and format, of the Commission’s Rules of Practice.
The Commission’s Rules of Practice may be viewed at http://www.scc.virginia.gov/case. A printed copy
of the Commission’s Rules of Practice and an official copy of the Commission’s Order for Notice and
Hearing in this proceeding may be obtained from the Clerk of the Commission at the address above.
VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER COMPANY

Richmond Free Press

A8 August 9-11, 2018

Sports

NFL Hall of Fame ceremony gets emotional
Associated Press

CANTON, Ohio
One of the greatest leaders football has seen,
Ray Lewis, used his Pro Football Hall of Fame
induction speech last Saturday to call for more
enlightened leadership in the United States.
The last of the seven members of the Hall of
Fame Class of 2018 on hand to be enshrined,
Lewis eschewed notes and the lectern, instead
strolling along the stage and passionately urging
his listeners to come together.
“Are you living every day to make this world
better?” Lewis asked Saturday night at the end of
his 33-minute oratory, often invoking the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “Think what
we can do if we work together as a country ...
teaching our nation to love each other again.
“It’s how we react to the challenges in our life
that shows our greatness. How do we execute
that dream? Who will answer that knock on the
door in the middle of the night? And it has to
start right now. We need people willing to fight
for what is good and what is right.”
Turning to the 140 Hall of Famers on the
stage, Lewis told them, “We can go from being
legends to building a legacy bigger than football,
bigger than sports. Look at what unites us ... the
answer is simple, love. Hope, faith and love,
and the greatest is love.”
Lewis was joined by Randy Moss, Brian
Dawkins, Brian Urlacher, Jerry Kramer, Robert
Brazile and Bobby Beathard as inductees at the
hall ceremony.
One of the best linebackers in NFL history,
Lewis won two Super Bowls with the Baltimore
Ravens. He often chanted “BALTIMORE!”
during his speech.
“Telling me something can’t be done is like
pouring lighter fluid on an open flame,” said Lewis,
a two-time Defensive Player of the Year who won
a second Super Bowl for the 2012 season — coming back from a torn triceps — then retired. He
was the MVP of the 2001 title game.
“I came back, and boy did I come back,”
Lewis said. “When you walk off the last time
with that thing, that Lombardi, it’s a confirmation
I am living proof of the impossible.”
A first-year nominee, Lewis was selected 26th
overall in the 1996 draft. He wasn’t even Baltimore’s first choice. Jonathan Ogden was, and the
big tackle made the Hall of Fame in 2013.
Lewis’ impact was immediate, both on the
field, in the locker room, and even in pregame
introductions, when his “squirrel dance” fired
up fans and teammates alike. He and Ogden
even did a short version on the stage.
Lewis was the first player with 40 sacks
and 30 interceptions in a career. An eight-time
All-Pro and inside linebacker on the 2000s NFL
All-Decade Team, he had a franchise-record
2,061 career tackles.
Dawkins also delivered a powerful speech
and, as he promised, cried during it.
One of the hardest-hitting and most versatile
safeties in NFL history, Dawkins stared at his
bust and nodded his approval to the crowd.
“The majority of success I have had has come
on the back end of pain,” he said noting he had
suicidal thoughts when he battled depression.
“On the other side of it, all of a sudden I became
better. There’s a purpose for my pain.
“I have grown leaps and bounds because
of the things I went through. For those going
through this now, there is hope on the other side.
Keep moving, keep pushing through.”
Dawkins was the leader of a Philadelphia
Eagles defense that made four straight NFC
championship games and one Super Bowl. Voted
to the 2000s NFL All-Decade Team and a fivetime All-Pro, Dawkins intercepted passes in 15
consecutive seasons and had 37 picks overall.
He averaged nearly 100 tackles a year and
spotlighted his versatility as the first player in
NFL history to get a sack, interception, fumble
recovery and touchdown catch (on a screen pass)

David Richard/Associated Press

Former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis dances with joy beside his bust during
his speech at the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony last Saturday in Canton,
Ohio.

in a game, against Houston in 2002.
Urlacher became a record 28th Chicago Bear
inducted into the hall. A first-year nominee who
filled the tradition of great middle linebackers in
the Windy City so brilliantly, Urlacher actually
was a safety at New Mexico. Chicago selected
him ninth overall in the 2000 draft and immediately converted him to linebacker. He spent two
weeks in training camp on the outside, then was
moved inside — for 13 spectacular seasons.
“I love everything about football — the
friendships, the coaches, the teachers, the challenges, the opportunity to excel. I loved going
to work every day for 13 years,” said the 2000
NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and 2005
Defensive Player of the Year, a season in which
Urlacher had 171 tackles.
The five-time All-Pro and member of the
2000s NFL All-Decade Team even did some
work on special teams. But it was in the heart
of the defense where he shone.
“The most coveted position for a defensive
player to play is middle linebacker for the
Chicago Bears,” said Urlacher, who had to hold
back tears several times. “Just think about it.

I hope over my 13 seasons I made you Bears
fans proud.”
Another first-year nominee, the 6-foot-4,
210-pound Moss brought the perfect combination of height, speed, soft hands and agility to
Minnesota as the 21st overall draft pick in 1998
after a rocky college career. His 69 receptions,
17 for touchdowns, and 1,313 yards helped
the Vikings go 15-1 and earned him Offensive
Rookie of the Year honors.
That was just the start for the eccentric but
always dynamic Moss. When he finally hooked
up with an elite quarterback, he caught a record
23 touchdown passes from Tom Brady in New
England’s perfect 2007 regular season.
Moss rubbed the face and top of his bust,
then delivered a sermon worthy of any church
or synagogue. He paid tribute to his family, to
the fans of his five teams and to his roots in
West Virginia — he promised he would return
to his hometown of Rand on Sunday to show
off his gold jacket.
“To my gold jacket brothers, I vow I will
wear it proudly,” Moss said.
One of those Hall of Fame brothers, Terrell

Ray Lewis III living outside his father’s shadow at VUU
By Fred Jeter

He has the name and he has
the game.
When you spot the name Ray
Lewis on the Virginia Union
University football roster, you
take notice.
Then when you see the defensive
back making plays all over the field
on football Saturdays, you take
notice again.
“Ray is a great player and
leader,” said Panthers Coach Alvin
Parker. “He brings his hard hat to
practice every day. He’s a pleasure
to coach.”
Raymond Anthony Lewis III,
answering to “Ray Ray,” is the son
of gridiron legend Ray Lewis Jr.,
who was inducted last Saturday
into the NFL Hall of Fame in
Canton, Ohio.
With much interest, Ray Ray
watched the ceremonies on television from his North Side apartment.
“I had a chance to go (to Canton)

but opted to stay here
being his latest. He had
and get ready for the
previous stints at the
start of our practices,”
University of Miami, his
Lewis said.
father’s alma mater, and
VUU preseason
Coastal Carolina Univerdrills began this week.
sity in Conway, S.C.
In Canton, the elder
He figures heavLewis spoke for 33 minily into the plans of
utes, double the time of
first-year VUU Coach
other inductees.
Parker.
“It was a bit lengthy,
“I’ve seen a lot of Ray
Ray Lewis III
but I think my father
on video and have been
touched on all the key points,” impressed with his work ethic the
Lewis said.
last eight months that I’ve been with
Lewis doesn’t have his father’s him,” Coach Parker said. “He’s a
size. He’s listed at 5-foot-10, 195 flat-out defensive back. He can play
pounds compared to his father’s safety or the corner, and we may
6-foot-1, 240 pounds.
use him on kick returns.”
Lewis also has two younger
Wearing jersey No. 19, Lewis
brothers playing college football. was in on 37 tackles last season
Rayshad Lewis is a sophomore for VUU while also breaking up
defensive back/wide receiver at 12 passes in nine games.
the University of Maryland, while
He said he has never worried about
Rahsaan Lewis is a freshman living up to his father’s status.
defensive back at the University
“I’ve never felt any pressure,”
of Central Florida.
he said. “I’m just trying to be the
A psychology major, Lewis has best person I can be.”
attended three colleges, with VUU
Growing up, Lewis lived with

Richmonder Maurice ‘Mo’ Carter
looking for more international hoop time
By Fred Jeter

Richmond native Maurice “Mo” Carter didn’t
have to join the Navy to see the world. He has
been globetrotting for years.
The traveling man has earned basketball
paychecks in France, Turkey, Puerto Rico,
Macedonia, Libya, Canada, Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico, as well as from the NBA
“G” League.
“I’ve been a little bit of everywhere,” said
Carter, summing up his worldwide adventures
after working up a sweat in the Richmond
Pro-Am game at Big Ben’s Home Court in
Richmond.
Now 35, the trim 6-foot point guard isn’t
about to let any dust collect on his suitcase or
moss grow under his sneakers.
“I’m transitioning” to other professions, he
said, “but I can still play on a high level.”
Carter has dabbled in real estate and car sales
and offers youth training sessions on the side.
The 9-to-5 can wait, however. His quickness
and smooth jump shot, as well as his sleek
waistline, haven’t been compromised by age.
“Staying in shape, eating the right things — it
has become a lifestyle,” he said.
His enthusiasm hasn’t dampened, either.
Last winter, Carter suited up for Rouen
Metropole Basket in the French Pro-B League.
As the team’s elder statesmen, he averaged 11
points per game while logging about 26 minutes
per contest.
Prior to his one season in France, he played
for Aykon Ankara in Turkey in 2016-17; before

Owens, declined to attend. Instead, he held his
own celebration at his college in Chattanooga,
Tenn. He was shown in a video and his photo
was hanging in Tom Benson Stadium. Otherwise,
T.O. was MIA.
In a lengthy and humorous speech, Kramer
brought the crowd back to the Lombardi Era.
A senior committee nominee, Kramer became
eligible in 1974 after 11 seasons with the Green
Bay Packers in which he won five NFL championships and two Super Bowls.
“It was an incredible experience to be with
him and have him bring you along,” he said
about Lombardi, who gave him “approval and
belief: powerful, powerful tools.”
Kramer also spent some time placekicking
for Green Bay. He made five All-Pro squads, the
NFL’s 50th Anniversary Team, NFL All-Decade
Team of the 1960s and the Super Bowl Silver
Anniversary Team.
Brazile, known as “Dr. Doom” when he played
in all 147 games for the Houston Oilers in his
10-year NFL career, kissed his bust when it was
unveiled. He spoke of how he and Walter Payton
made history by being selected in the first round of
the same draft from a historically black college.
Also a senior committee nominee, Brazile
was drafted sixth overall out of Jackson State,
two picks behind his teammate. He made such
an immediate pro impact he was the 1975 NFL
Defensive Rookie of the Year, and went on to
five All-Pro seasons as one of the game’s most
versatile linebackers. He was in on a stunning
185 tackles in 1978.
Presented by his father, also named Robert,
Brazile made the 1970s NFL All-Decade Team.
He retired in 1984 and became a special education teacher.
“When they knocked on my door,” he said
of finding out in February he had finally made
the hall, “all of my dreams came true. And after
all these years, I’m at home.”
Beathard won four Super Bowls as a team
executive and drafted four Hall of Famers. His
best hire might have been Coach Joe Gibbs, who
presented Beathard for induction.
A contributor’s committee nominee, Beathard
worked for the Chiefs, Falcons, Dolphins, Chargers
and the Washington NFL team. He won two NFL
titles each with Miami, including the perfect 1972
season, and Washington. He also helped Kansas
City and San Diego to Super Bowls.

that, for Atleticos de San
German in Puerto Rico in
2015-16. Before that, he
showed off his silky jumper
and slashing moves to the
rack for the London Lightning in Ontario, Canada.
While the money is
sufficient on the international hoops circuit,
Carter notes that he’s “not
Mo Carter
traveling alone.” His “fan
club” features his wife, Annabelle, and 3-yearold daughter, Mila. His mother, Dorothy Carter,
was on hand at Big Ben’s to do what she’s been
doing for decades — filming her son’s game
and leading cheers.
Carter isn’t the only baller in the family. His
wife played on the Dominican Republic National
Team a few years back and later professionally
in Iceland.
Safety is always an issue when signing
contracts.
“I really enjoyed playing in Turkey,” said
Carter. “It’s one of the best leagues in Europe.
But now with all that’s going on there, I wouldn’t
dare go back.
“Right now, I’m not sure where I’ll be going
next season,” he continued. “But I have every
intention of playing.”
Carter burst on the local scene in the late
1990s as one of two precocious freshman guards
for a juggernaut Highland Springs High School
squad coached by George Lancaster.
Carter shared the background with another

brilliant performer, Jonathan Hargett. As it turned
out, Coach Lancaster’s dream backcourt didn’t
last. Hargett transferred out of state following
his freshman year. Carter transferred following
his sophomore season to DeMatha Catholic High
School near Washington, and later to Eleanor
Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Md.
Carter passed on college offers from the likes
of Xavier University in Ohio and Wake Forest
University to help build a program at Robert
Morris University outside Pittsburgh. At the time,
Robert Morris was transitioning from a junior
college to NCAA Division I status.
In three seasons at the school, Carter scored
1,261 points while canning 195 3-pointers.
Undrafted by the NBA, he toiled a season
for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA’s
G League before taking his game on a world
tour. His play with foreign teams started with
Trotamundos de Carabobo in Venezuela. His
best season statistically was with Bambuqueros,
Colombia, where he averaged 28 points.
“I’m a point guard, but I can score,” said
Carter. “That’s why I’m still playing.”
The Big Ben Summer League lacks pro-ball
intensity, while still providing a chance for
conditioning and friendly competition.
Wearing No. 13 for Setliff Law, Carter led the
Pro-Am in scoring with 22 points per game. He
tacked on another 20 points in the tournament
quarterfinal win over SKG Detailing.
Meanwhile, Carter will pursue more overseas
opportunities. It’s a big world out there, and
it’s likely he can already say “basketball” in
many languages.

his mother, Tatyana McCall, in
Longwood, Fla., near Orlando. He
was a heavily recruited running
back and defensive back at Lake
Mary Prep High.
Both his parents attended
VUU’s homecoming last November to see him play in the game
against Elizabeth City State University. Properly motivated, Lewis
responded with his best game — 11
tackles in a VUU victory.
His dad even addressed the
Panthers in a spirited pregame
speech.
“The team really got hyped
up,” Lewis said. “It was almost
surreal.”
Playing for the Baltimore
Ravens, his father starred on two
Super Bowl championship squads,
and registered 2,061 career tackles
with 31 interceptions, 42 sacks
and 17 forced fumbles.
“I know most people look up to
him as one of the greatest players
who ever lived,” Lewis said. “But,
honestly, to me, he’s just my dad.”

Metropolitan Junior
Baseball League
All-Star Game
this Saturday
By Fred Jeter

The Metropolitan Junior Baseball League’s
stars will shine this Saturday, Aug. 11, at J.
Sargeant Reynolds Community College’s
Parham Campus, 1651 E. Parham Road.
Game time is 3 p.m. for the seasonending MJBL All-Star Game in the fiveteam, U-19 age division.
Under the direction of William M.T. Forrester Jr., the MJBL is concluding its 59th
season with a long-standing aim to promote
baseball within the inner city and among
African-American youths.
It has been a busy summer. In addition
to league play, the MJBL has competed in
tournaments along the East Coast.
The U-19 contingent, made up of young
men mostly in the 16 to 19 age group,
played in a MJBL tournament last month
in Washington coinciding with the Major
League Baseball All-Star Game. The MJBL
event was held at Maury Wills Field near
Howard University.
Local athletes also traveled to Greensboro, N.C., for the annual MJBL Inner-City
Classic and to Atlanta for the RBI Regional.
RBI stands for Reviving Baseball in Inner
Cities and is funded by MLB.
The Reynolds Community College diamond
off Parham Road has become the hub for local
MJBL activities. Forrester reports that two
batting cages have been added for training.

August 9-11, 2018 B1

Section

B

Richmond Free Press

C.L. Belle’s

Happenings

E Z Car Rental
3101 W. Broad Street

(804) 358-3406

Personality: Terrence L. Graves

SUMMER
SPECIAL

Spotlight on president of the Richmond Bar Association
The Richmond Bar Association is always striving to
increase the diversity of its
membership, says Terrence
L. Graves.
The 54-year-old attorney
with Sands Anderson PC can
make sure that happens now
that he’s in charge.
On June 1, Mr. Graves took
office as president of the RBA.
He will lead the 1,500-plus
member association for the
next year as it expands on
its long-standing mission of
service to the bar, the bench
and the public.
He is the second AfricanAmerican president of the
organization that was founded
in 1885.
“My first priority as president is to make sure that every
member feels that they have a
place at the table and that their
needs as members, however
diverse they might be, are
being met by the association
to the extent possible,” Mr.
Graves says.
“We also want to make
it clear that if you practice
law in or around the city
of Richmond, then the RBA
is an organization of which
you should be an active and
contributing member.”
Mr. Graves acknowledges
what he calls the unfounded
perception that the RBA is still
the same stodgy organization
it was when it was comprised
solely of white men.
“There was a time when the
Richmond Bar Association did
not welcome people who look
like me,” he says. But that’s
not the case anymore.
“I think the RBA, and a lot
of other entities both public
and private in Richmond, still
suffer from the perceptions of
what was allowed to go on from
the 19th century through the
1960s and ’70s,” he says.
He said making sure the
RBA’s door is open is the
most effective way to move
forward. That includes serving
the community in areas that
are needed, providing manpower for pro bono projects
and working with other area
bar organizations to interview
an array of candidates for
judgeships.
“It is of utmost importance
to have judges that reflect the
demographics of the community that the court serves,” he
says. “In many instances, the
best qualified individuals to
serve are people from diverse
backgrounds.”
Mr. Graves’ interest in law
dates to his childhood in Suffolk. He and his brothers were
avid readers. His parents,
Rammie and Elna Graves,
emphasized education and the
importance of family.
“You had to get your books
and you were expected to pitch
in where you could and when
you could,” he recounts.
He graduated in the Top
10 in his high school class,
and a speech he wrote for an
advanced literature class was
deemed the best. He delivered
it at graduation in 1982.
Once at Howard University,
he was exposed in his political
science class to many of the
legal struggles throughout history and to the brilliant legal
strategists of the Civil Rights
Movement who had connections to Howard — law dean
Charles Hamilton Houston and
Howard law school graduates
Thurgood Marshall and Oliver
W. Hill Sr.
The late Mr. Hill of Richmond and the late Justice Marshall, who served on the U.S.
Supreme Court, are among Mr.
Graves’ legal heroes.
“They are both shining
examples of what it is to be
the best at what you do while
maintaining the highest level of
ethics and personal conduct,”
he says.
Meet the Richmond Bar
Association’s 134th president

ing judgeships.
Greatest challenge at
work: Making sure that
everything gets done and
done at a high level.
There are only 24 hours
in any given day and
there are always things
that need to be done.
Time management is
key.
Greatest satisfaction: I
am most satisfied when
I’ve achieved a good
result for my client,
whether at trial, as the
result of a well-argued
motion or as the result
of negotiating the best
possible settlement under the circumstances
of a given case.
and this week’s Personality,
Terrence L. Graves:
Occupation: Attorney with
Sands Anderson PC. I represent individuals and corporations in civil matters primarily
involving catastrophic injuries
and property damage claims
all over the Commonwealth of
Virginia and in several other
mid-Atlantic states and the
District of Columbia. I’m also
the co-chair of the litigation
group at the firm.
No. 1 volunteer position:
President of the Richmond
Bar Association.
Date and place of birth: Aug.
1 in Suffolk.
Current residence: Chesterfield County.
Alma maters: Bachelor’s
degree, Howard University,
1986; and J.D., University
of Virginia School of Law,
1991.
Family: Wife, Jacqueline
Mason-Graves, my junior high
school sweetheart, and son,
Terrence L. Graves Jr.
When elected RBA president
and length of term: I took
office on June 1, and my time
in office runs until May 31,
2019.
How I felt when I was
elected: I was humbled and
proud because I’m following
in the footsteps of many great
bar leaders who have gone
before me.
RBA mission: To cultivate
and advance the cause of jurisprudence; to facilitate and
improve the administration of
justice; to promote the delivery
of legal services to the entire
community; to promote an
increased understanding by the
public of the legal system and
respect for the law; to inculcate and enhance the highest
standards of ethical conduct,
integrity, dignity and honor; to
continue the legal education of
its members; and to encourage
courtesy among all members of
the legal profession, including
bench and bar.
Major RBA programs: The
RBA hosts six major luncheon
meetings, two major social
events, and offered 38 hours of
continuing education programming in 2017, has seven practice sections and many other
events aimed at enhancing the
administration of justice and
promoting collegiality.
RBA’s relationship with
other associations: The RBA
partners with seven other local
bar associations (Chesterfield County Bar Association,
Hanover County Bar Association, Henrico County Bar
Association, Hill-Tucker Bar
Association, Metro Richmond
Family Law Bar Association,
Metropolitan Richmond Women’s Bar Association and the
Greater Richmond Criminal
Bar Association) on the area’s
annual Bench-Bar Conference.
In addition, we invite the
same local bar associations
to participate in joint judicial
interviews of candidates seek-

When I knew law was for me:
I’ve wanted to be a lawyer since
I was in elementary school and
we were studying different
occupations. I was even more
motivated to become a lawyer
when one of my teachers told
me that I was too shy and quiet
to be a lawyer.
How public views lawyers:
As a necessary evil. We often
are described as underhanded,
dishonest, cheating and not to
be trusted, until someone needs
the help of an attorney to solve
a problem for them.
How lawyers should be
viewed: As highly educated
problem solvers that work for
the benefit of their clients and
who contribute greatly to our
society and communities.
What it takes to be a good
attorney: You have to be willing to listen to the problems
that your clients bring to you
and present them with all
available options to address
the problem. You have to
be willing to follow through
under all circumstances and
you have to have the client’s
best interests at heart. You also
have to be willing to learn new
things and new approaches to
old problems.
Concern about racial disparities in treatment in court:
This is an age old problem
that is best exemplified by
how defendants of different
races are treated differently
in criminal matters. There
is an obvious concern about
this, as everyone deserves to
be treated equally under the
law based upon their actions
and not because of their race,
gender or beliefs.
Disparity in access to attorneys: I have a natural concern
about the ability of people who
are barely able to put a roof
over their heads and food on
their table to afford to hire an
attorney if something should
go wrong in their lives or if
they need help with something.
Everyone should be able to
get help with important legal
issues.
How RBA is addressing disparities: In 2014, a Diversity
Committee that I chaired studied whether minority lawyers
had full and effective access
to membership in the RBA,
whether minorities had effective opportunity to leadership
and development programs in
the association and what additional steps could be taken to
encourage additional participation (ensuring more diversity
in our luncheon speakers and
topics and to actively cultivate
minority and gender parity on
our committees). This doesn’t
address the disparities of race
with regard to access to lawyers
and judicial appointments, but
the RBA is mindful of the
issues across the board. Our
Pro Bono Committee and our
members support the efforts
and programs of organizations
— the Central Virginia Legal
Aid Society, the Legal Aid
Justice Center and the Virginia
Poverty Law Center, to name

a few — whose objective is to
assist the economically disadvantaged and underserved in
the metro area.
Advice to law students: Be
a sponge. Soak up everything
that you can while you are
in law school. Also be open
to changing your preferred
direction once you get in law
school. Many times your path
will pull you in a direction
that you haven’t even thought
about.

If I’ve learned one thing in life,
it is: In order to get anywhere
in life, you’ve got to work hard,
treat people the way you want
to be treated and love and take
care of your family.
Next goal: Continue to enjoy each and every day of
my life.

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Outlook at start of day: Let’s
get up and get something accomplished.
A quote that I am inspired
by: “Attitude is a choice. Happiness is a choice. Optimism is
a choice. Kindness is a choice.
Giving is a choice. Respect
is a choice. Whatever choice
you make makes you. Choose
wisely.” ― Roy T. Bennett

Best late-night snack: Salted
cashews.
Something I love to do that
most people would never
imagine: Play video games.
Person who influenced me
the most: My parents influenced me the most growing up.
They taught me the value of
hard work and keeping your
word. My wife influences
me the most currently. She
has taught me the value of
faith, unconditional love and
she keeps it real with me at
all times.
Book that influenced me
the most: “Native Son” by
Richard Wright.
Book I’m reading now: “Typhoon Fury” by Clive Cussler
and Boyd Morrison.

Hundreds of people across metro Richmond turned out Tuesday night for the
35th Annual National Night Out, an event
observed across the country to promote
safe neighborhoods while building policecommunity relations. McGruff the Crime
Dog and the Richmond Police Department’s
top brass and officers made the rounds at
several of dozens of events put on by neighborhood and community groups across the
city, including the one pictured here at Pollard
Park in North Side. Left, Camya Brown,
7, shows off her dance moves during the
event sponsored by Neighborhood Housing
Services of Richmond that featured music,
food and performances. Felicia Joyner, right,
volunteers for grill duty.
Photos by Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

AFROFEST,
a festival of African
culture, Saturday
at Pine Camp
An estimated 3,500 people from at least 19 African countries now call the Richmond area home. They want to raise
awareness of the cultural richness they are adding to the
community.
That’s why the African Community Network, an umbrella
group that includes representatives of the emigrants of the various countries who came to the United States in recent years, is
throwing a community party called AFROFEST 2018.
The free event will take place noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug.
11, at the city’s Pine Camp Cultural Arts and Community Center,
4901 Old Brook Road in North Side.
“We’ll be offering music, a fashion show, food and soccer
games to showcase who we are,” said Djibril Niang, a co-founder
and president of ACN.
Featured performers will include Ghanaian master drummer
Okyerema Asante and the world music group Hotel X, said Mr.
Niang, who arrived 18 years ago from Senegal.
The event also will feature an array of clothing styles from
the various African nations that the network represents, as well
as from the Caribbean nation of Haiti, he said.
During the event, soccer teams representing Ghana and Cameroon will vie for the AFROFEST 2018 title, he said.
Health screenings and competitions for children also will be
part of the event, he said.
“We are hoping for a big turnout,” Mr. Niang said.
Details: African Community Network, (804) 389-4488 or
(804) 852-2796 or info@acn-va.org.

Photos by Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

20th anniversary exhibit
Above, Cree takes in the artwork that she and 19 other
program leaders at ART180 created to celebrate the nonprofit’s 20th year of giving young people from challenging
circumstances an opportunity to express themselves through
painting, sculpture, murals and other art. At right, Marlene
Paul, left, ART 180’s co-founder and executive director,
greets Melody Barnes, former White House domestic
policy adviser, and her husband, Marlon Buckner Jr., at
the opening of the anniversary exhibit last Friday at the
organization’s Atlas Galley, 114 W. Marshall St. Work from
the exhibit, titled “Twenty: ART 180 Takes the Bus,” will
spend most of August touring the city on GRTC buses.
An exhibit in April at the Science Museum of Virginia
featured the work of the organization’s students.

Richmond Chapter
of The Drifters Inc.
host national convention

Mr. Niang

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

College move-in day
Left, Kavin Baines, 18, of Portsmouth gets a helping hand from her mother, Miki Baines,
during last Saturday’s freshmen move-in at Virginia Union University. Orientation for
members of the Class of 2022, along with classes for new students, started Monday on
the Lombardy Street campus. Future student Kenzie Creekmur watches and takes notes
about dormitory life in the background.

Women from around the country converged
on Richmond this week for the 62nd National
Convention of The Drifters Inc., a national
women’s civic and service organization started
in 1954 that now has more than 600 members
in 35 chapters in the United States.
The Richmond Chapter of The Drifters is
hosting the national event that began Wednesday and runs through Sunday, Aug. 12, at a
Chesterfield County hotel.
The theme: “FANtastic RVA — Where
We Encourage Positivity, Power and Purpose!”
The organization is focused on voter registra-

RVA has soul

DJ Tony Fernandez spins high-energy
house music Saturday at the 3rd Annual
RVA Soul House Fest held at St. Joseph’s
Villa. The free event, a community party,
featured six DJs and a host of entertainers
serving up a variety of “house music,”
a mix of soul and R&B.
Christopher Woody, right, amazes the
crowd with his dance moves and death
drop. Attendees were asked to bring
school supplies for backpacks the organizing disc jockeys plan to distribute.
Photos by Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

tion and education this year, while promoting
the national theme of strengthening families to
build better communities.
The Richmond chapter was established in
1978 and has been involved in a variety of
civic projects, including awarding scholarships
to area high school seniors and college students,
providing help to families in need, volunteering with Habitat for Humanity and Caritas and
putting on voter registration drives.
Mary Ann Jones is president of the Richmond
chapter, while Constance Brown and chapter
Vice President Yvonne Edmonds are convention co-chairs.

Richmond Free Press

August 9-11, 2018

B3

Faith News/Directory

Photos via Creative Commons; Julia Greeley of Archdiocese of Denver

From left, Pierre Toussaint, Mary Elizabeth Lange, Julia Greeley and Augustus Tolton are among five African-American
candidates being supported for sainthood.

The founders of two religious orders and an
African-American priest who had to train in
Rome because no U.S. seminary would accept
him are among five candidates being supported
for sainthood by a new coalition of black Catholic
organizations.
The initiative was announced July 31 at Xavier
University in New Orleans, where a new resource
center will be established to facilitate research on
these candidates and other black Catholics.
Lining up behind the effort are Xavier’s Institute for Black Catholic Studies, the National
Black Catholic Clergy Caucus, the National Black
Sisters Conference, the National Black Catholic
Seminarians Association and the National Association of Black Catholic Deacons.
Although the Roman Catholic Church has

many saints of African descent, it has no black
American saints.
Scholarly research is important “for the
larger church, understanding the role of AfricanAmericans in building the church,” said Xavier
President Reynold Verret. Documentation of a
person’s life, including expressions of virtue and
performance of miracles, is generally required
for progress on the path to sainthood.
The candidates are:
Pierre Toussaint, 1766-1853, a former slave
who parlayed his connections as a hairdresser
to prominent New Yorkers into a career of
charity.
Mother Henriette DeLille, 1813-1862, a
mixed-race woman who founded Sisters of the
Holy Family, a religious order based in New
Orleans.
Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange, c. 1794-1882,

who founded the Oblate Sisters of Providence
in Baltimore.
Father Augustus Tolton, 1854-1897, identified by Xavier as America’s first black Catholic
priest, studied in Rome because no U.S. seminary
would take him.
Julia Greeley, c. 1840-1918, a former slave
who became known as Denver’s Angel of Charity
for her support of poor families.
The five candidates all are in the early stages
of the journey to sainthood, which in the Roman
Catholic Church is a four-stage process. Mother
Lange, Father Tolton and Ms. Greeley have attained the first level, in which a diocesan tribunal
affirms that they lived lives of “heroic virtue.”
Mother DeLille and Mr. Toussaint have attained the second level, veneration, meaning
they have been proclaimed heroic in virtue by
the Congregation for the Causes of Saints with

the approval of the pope.
The next level, beatification, generally requires documentation of one miracle (except in
the case of a martyr). Canonization, the fourth
level, requires two miracles.
The process can take decades or even centuries.
Dr. Verret said advocacy for Mr. Toussaint was
under way in the 1970s.
Some credit Mr. Toussaint with inspiring the
creation of Catholic Charities, one of the largest
charitable organizations in the United States.
After being freed from slavery, he financially
supported his former slave master’s widow
through his work as a hairdresser for the rich
and famous in New York City, including the
family of Alexander Hamilton. Through Mr.
Toussaint’s connections, he helped create several
organizations serving the destitute of the city
without regard to race.

Honoring God ... and serving people THANKS TO YOU for over 64 years and looking for 64 more years

Ms. Mustafa, the mayoral
candidate in Rochester, posted
on her Facebook page about
receiving anti-Muslim threats
in the mail last month. She
notified the police about the
incident.
Not all the Muslim candidates, however, have encountered a backlash. Mr. Pasha,
for example, said that he
hasn’t dealt with any of the
anti-Muslim, anti-immigration
experiences that Ms. Jama,
Mr. Ahmed and Ms. Mustafa
have encountered while campaigning.
“It’s not like I’m saying everyone is accepting,” Mr. Pasha
said. “But that hasn’t been my
experience as a candidate.”
After Ms. Jama took a couple
of weeks to recover from her
door-knocking experience, she
posted about it on Facebook,
saying the incidents won’t stop
her from continuing her campaign. She also said she didn’t
want to go out campaigning
alone and asked people to join
her. In response, a half dozen
white residents in Mankato
joined her last month.
Among them was Tony
Friesen, owner of Friesen’s
Family Bakery & Soup Bar
in Mankato and Dan Feehan,
a DFL candidate for Congress
in the 1st District. With the
presence of Mr. Friesen and
Mr. Feehan, Ms. Jama said she
noticed things were different
than when she campaigned
with her niece. She said she
was treated just like any other
candidate.
The nonprofit news outlet
MinnPost provided this article
to The Associated Press through
a collaboration with the Institute for Nonprofit News.

Theme for 2018-2020: Mobilizing For Ministry
Refreshing The Old and Emerging The New
We Embrace Diversity — Love For All!

!”

MINNEAPOLIS
Two months ago, Fardousa
Jama did something no other
Muslim woman in South-Central Minnesota has done: She
filed to run for a City Council
seat in Mankato, Minn.
Then on the Fourth of July,
Ms. Jama took to the streets
with her 8-year-old niece, Mai,
for a door-knocking campaign,
an experience she hoped would
help her better connect with
area constituents and learn more
about issues that are important
to them.
But a few minutes into the effort, one thing became apparent
to Ms. Jama: Going door to door
in Mankato might be a lot more
difficult for a Somali-American,
hijab-wearing female candidate
than she had imagined.
More than once, Ms. Jama
said, people she solicited for
votes responded to her with
racially charged comments —
“Go back to where you came
from” and “We don’t support a
terrorist” — before slamming
the door in her face. Worse yet,
she added, an elderly white man
spat on her before telling her
to get off his property.
After the spitting incident,
Ms. Jama decided she didn’t
want her niece to see the
mistreatment she endured. So
Ms. Jama quickly returned
home to rethink her campaign
strategy.
Ms. Jama’s experience isn’t
uncommon among Muslim
American candidates seeking
political seats in Minnesota,
home to an estimated 150,000
Muslims. What’s unusual is
that it hasn’t stopped many
from jumping in to the effort
anyway, vying for offices as
varied as Congress, the state
legislature, city government
and public school board.
At least 15 Muslim candidates are running for political
positions in Minnesota this
election season. And while
there are no official statistics,
many observers believe that is
significantly more than in any
previous election.
Some of those candidates
are familiar faces. Longtime
Minnesota Congressman Keith
Ellison is running for Minnesota
attorney general, while state
Rep. Ilhan Omar is seeking to
take the seat Rep. Ellison currently holds in Congress.

But others, including Ms. a series of policies restricting
Jama, are new to the scene, immigrant and refugee arrivals
though several have spent in the United States. Ms. Jama
decades serving as nonprofit wants to use the status of a City
leaders or political aides for Council member to raise awareelected officials in the state.
ness about the challenges that
Nausheena Hussain, execu- immigrants and refugees face in
tive director of the Minneapolis- Mankato, while also performing
based Reviving the
the other expected
Islamic Sisterhood
duties of a council
for Empowerment,
member, including
said the candidates
passing ordinances,
not only have varied
managing city fileadership experinances and reviewing
ence, they represent
policy proposals.
a spectrum of racial
But Haaris Paand ethnic populasha, a 29-year-old
Ms. Jama
tions.
Minneapolis-native
“There are African-Ameri- and son of Pakistani immicans, Somalis and Asians,” she grant parents, doesn’t want to
said. “The Muslim community emphasize President Trump’s
is so diverse and it shows what anti-Muslim policies or even
Muslim diversity should look his own Muslim identity when
like.”
talking about his candidacy.
Ms. Hussain also noted
That isn’t because Mr.
that Muslim candidates are Pasha doesn’t want others to
running as both Democratic- know about his faith. It’s just
Farmer-Labor and Republican that he prefers to talk about
candidates, though most of the his accomplishments, his long
office seekers align themselves service as an advocate for
with DFL’s progressive arm.
justice and equality and the
“There was a time when changes he plans to make if
there was only one Muslim he is elected.
candidate running for a seat,”
“We need quality canshe said. That meant that “all didates,” he said. “It’s not
Muslim voters would rally enough to be just a Muslim. I
around that person and say, think we really need someone
‘Oh, this is the one.’ ”
who’s going to do the work of
That’s no longer the case.
unearthing the mechanisms of
“Now the Muslim candidates law and policy and how that
themselves have to work for actually interacts with people’s
their vote,” Ms. Hussain said. lives.”
In the District 60B state
Osman Ahmed, a longtime
House seat, three Muslim Amer- community organizer who also
icans are among a crowded field is running for the District 62A
seeking the office: Mohamud House seat, also doesn’t want
Noor, a longtime activist in to use the Trump administraMinneapolis; Haaris Pasha, a tion’s immigration policy when
law student at the University of talking to constituents. Instead,
Minnesota; and Fadumo Taani, he focuses on his years-long
a Republican activist.
advocacy service with imThe current crop of can- migrant, refugee and other
didates isn’t only diverse in minority groups in Minnesota
their political philosophies or and the work he plans to do if
career backgrounds. Of the he gets elected.
15 Muslim candidates, seven
Like Ms. Jama, Mr. Ahmed
are women, including Regina said he has encountered more
Mustafa, who’s running for than a couple of prejudiced
mayor in Rochester; and Hodan comments in the course of
Hassan, a candidate for a state campaigning. It happened
House seat in District 62A in while knocking on doors and
Minneapolis.
while speaking to voters on the
Each of the candidates phone, he said. Some people
in Minnesota has a different have even emailed messages
explanation for why he or she about why he doesn’t belong
decided to run this year.
in America.
For Ms. Jama, the journey
“Some people said to me,
to become a City Council ‘Why don’t you fix the councandidate in Mankato started try you came from,’ ” he said.
a year and a half ago when “Others said, ‘You guys are
President Trump announced taking over the state.’ ”

Representatives from the local Sheriff Departments will be
available for questions concerning employment.

“We feel a sense of responsibility as the church in the
middle of the community to create a space where everyone
can feel a part of the community.”
“We are in prayer that the Lord will show up and we
will be led by him to promote community unity. We are
looking forward to seeing you there.”

A ll A re I n v I t e d.

Richmond Free Press

B4 August 9-11, 2018

Obituary/Faith News/Directory

Joseph L. Hayes Sr., former director of VEC’s
Administrative Law Division, dies at 85
Joseph Lewis Hayes Jr. initially set out to become a pharmacist. Along the way, he switched to legal studies and eventually became one of the leading experts on the laws regarding
unemployment benefits.
The Richmond native began his journey in this area after
graduating from law school and finding work as a hearing
officer at the Virginia Employment Commission, where he
heard cases mostly involving individuals challenging employers’ denial of their unemployment benefits following firings
or layoffs.
Mr. Hayes rose to become the first African-American to serve
as chief senior administrative law judge and director of VEC’s
Administrative Law Division. His decisions on cases upholding
or denying benefits set precedents that stand today.
“He was meant for the law,” said his daughter, Lizbeth T.
Hayes-Mackey, director of the Virginia Office of Fair Housing.
“He was deliberative, even-keeled, reasonable and rational,
rather than emotional.”

After retiring from the VEC in
1995 after 37 years, he opened his
own consulting firm. For nearly 20
years, he represented both individuals and companies in VEC cases
and also was hired by companies
to provide education and training
to their employees.
Mr. Hayes died Wednesday,
July 25, 2018, at a Richmond area
hospital. He was 85.
Family and friends will celebrate
his life 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug.
Mr. Hayes
11, at the church where he was a
longtime member, St. Philip’s Episcopal, 2900 Hanes Ave. in
North Side. The program, to be officiated by the church’s rector, the Rev. Phoebe Roaf, will be preceded by a Sigma Pi Phi
Fraternity (The Boulé) memorial service at 10 a.m.

Born in Richmond in 1932, Mr. Hayes grew up in Jackson
Ward. After graduating from Armstrong High School, he earned
an undergraduate degree at Virginia Union University and began
pharmacy studies at Howard University, while also planning a
pharmacy business, his family said.
He left Howard to earn his law degree at the Northern Virginia
School of Law, which no longer exists. After serving three years
in the Army, he returned to Richmond and joined the VEC staff.
After retiring, he maintained his consulting firm until about two
years ago, his daughter said.
Mr. Hayes also was a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity.
In addition to his daughter, Mr. Hayes is survived by his wife
of more than 50 years, Frances Teele Hayes; his son, Joseph L.
Hayes III; and a granddaughter.
The family requests that memorial contributions be made to
St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in support of a recently developed
community garden and green space.

NEW YORK
The American clergyman who preached about the power
of love at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
has undergone surgery for prostate cancer.
An Episcopal Church spokeswoman said the surgery
was performed July 31 on the Presiding Bishop Michael
Bruce Curry.
Bishop Curry, 65, announced his cancer diagnosis on
July 25 and said he planned to have surgery to remove the
prostate gland. He said he was diagnosed a few months
ago when he had his annual physical exam.
A statement posted on the denomination’s website said
Bishop Curry was “resting comfortably” after the surgery.
“According to the Presiding Bishop’s family and his
medical team, the surgery went well, as had been expected,” the statement read. “A full recovery continues
to be anticipated.”
Bishop Curry said previously he expected to spend four to
six weeks recuperating. He said he would resume his duties
as presiding bishop of the church in early September.
Bishop Curry is the first African-American leader of the
Episcopal Church in the United States. His fiery sermon at
the May 19 royal wedding offered a contrast to the more
solemn Anglican style that many guests were used to. He
was asked to give the sermon by the royal couple in a
departure from tradition in which such sermons usually are
given by senior members of the Church of England.

Broad Rock Baptist Church

MONTGOMERY, Ala.
A letter written by civil rights
activist Rosa Parks describing
the 1957 bombing of her neighbors’ home has been purchased
at auction by the couple targeted
in the attack.
Alabama State University, a
historically black university in
Montgomery, announced that
the Rev. Robert Graetz and his
wife, Jeannie, purchased the
letter by Mrs. Parks describing
the bombing of their home.
The Graetzes were targeted

because
they were
among
the few
Caucasian supporters of
the Montgomery
Mrs. Parks
Bus Boycott and the Civil Rights Movement. Mrs. Parks’ defiance of
bus seating segregation triggered the boycott.
Rev. Graetz was the pastor
of the mostly African-American
Trinity Lutheran Church in

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Richmond Free Press

August 9-11, 2018 B5

Legal Notices/Employment Opportunities
Divorce
VIRGINIA:
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT
FOR THE COUNTY OF
HANOVER
WENDY HINES,
Plaintiff
v.
MCGILL HINES,
Defendant.
Case No.: CL18002560-00
ORDER OF PUBLICATION
The object of this suit
is to obtain a divorce from
the bond of matrimony from
the defendant on the ground
of living separate and apart
without any cohabitation
and without interruption for
a period exceeding twelve
months.
It is ORDERED that
the defendant, whose
whereabouts are unknown,
appear here on or before
the 2nd day of October, 2018
at 9:00 a.m. and protect his
interests.
A Copy, Teste:
FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR.,
Clerk
I ask for this:
Law Office of Dorothy M.
Eure, P.C.
Dorothy M. Eure, Plaintiff’s
Attorney
VSB# 27724
8460 Mount Eagle Road
Ashland, VA 23005
(804) 798-9667
VIRGINIA:
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT
FOR THE COUNTY OF
HANOVER
JACOB BRANCH, SR.,
Plaintiff
v.
ELISHIA BRANCH,
Defendant.
Case No.: CL18002389-00
ORDER OF PUBLICATION
The object of this suit
is to obtain a divorce from
the bond of matrimony from
the defendant on the ground
of living separate and apart
without any cohabitation
and without interruption for
a period exceeding twelve
months.
It is ORDERED that
the defendant, whose
whereabouts are unknown,
appear here on or before the
19th day of September, 2018
at 9:00 a.m. and protect her
interests.
A Copy, Teste:
FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR.,
Clerk
I ask for this:
Law Office of
Dorothy M. Eure, P.C.
Dorothy M. Eure,
Plaintiff’s Attorney
VSB# 27724
8460 Mount Eagle Road
Ashland, VA 23005
(804) 798-9667
VIRGINIA:
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT
FOR THE COUNTY OF
HANOVER
SHAWANA HALL PORTER,
Plaintiff
v.
BRUCE PORTER, JR.,
Defendant.
Case No.: CL18002336-00
ORDER OF PUBLICATION
The object of this suit
is to obtain a divorce from
the bond of matrimony from
the defendant on the ground
of living separate and apart
without any cohabitation
and without interruption for
a period exceeding twelve
months.
It is ORDERED that
the defendant, who is a
nonresident, appear here
on or before the 19th day of
September, 2018 at 9:00 a.m.
and protect his interests.
A Copy, Teste:
FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR.,
Clerk
I ask for this:
Dorothy M. Eure, Esquire
VSB# 27724
Law Office of
Dorothy M. Eure, P.C.
8460 Mount Eagle Road
Ashland, VA 23005
(804) 798-9667
VIRGINIA:
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT
FOR THE COUNTY OF
HANOVER
ADY ORTIZ PACHON,
Plaintiff
v.
OSCAR PEREZ,
Defendant.
Case No.: CL18002088-00
ORDER OF PUBLICATION
The object of this suit
is to obtain a divorce from
the bond of matrimony from
the defendant on the ground
of living separate and apart
without any cohabitation
and without interruption for
a period exceeding twelve
months.
It is ORDERED that the
defendant, who has been
served with the Complaint by
posted service appear here
on or before the 19th day of
September, 2018 at 9:00 a.m.
and protect his interests.
A Copy, Teste:
FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR.,
Clerk
I ask for this:
Dorothy M. Eure
VSB# 27724
8460 Mount Eagle Road
Ashland, VA 23005
(804) 798-9667
VIRGINIA:
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT
FOR THE COUNTY OF
HANOVER
DONALD REDD,
Plaintiff
v.
ANN REDD,
Defendant.
Case No.: CL16001041-00
ORDER OF PUBLICATION
The object of this suit
is to obtain a divorce from
the bond of matrimony from
the defendant on the ground
of living separate and apart
without any cohabitation
and without interruption for
a period exceeding twelve
months.
It is ORDERED that the
defendant, who has been
served with the Complaint by
Continued on next column

Redd.
An Affidavit having been
filed that said owner, LILLIE
REDD, owner per a deed
filed in the records of the
Richmond Circuit Court at
Deed Book 344C page 144
on June 17, 1927, has not
been located and has not
filed a response to this action,
and that any heirs, devisees,
assignees, successors in
interest, successors in title
and/or any creditors with
a current or future interest
in said property, have not
been identified and/or served
despite diligent efforts to do so
and are defendants to this suit
by the general description of
“Parties Unknown.”
IT IS ORDERED that
LILLIE REDD, owner per a
deed filed in the records
of the Richmond Circuit
Court at Deed Book 344C
page 144 on June 17, 1927,
and Parties Unknown, come
forward to appear on or before
OCTOber 25, 2018 and do
what is necessary to protect
their interests in this matter.
An Extract, Teste:
Edward F. Jewett, Clerk
Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq.
City of Richmond,
Office of the City Attorney
900 E. Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
804-646-7940

deceased, or her heirs,
devisees, assignees or
successors in interest, and
MAGGIE WASHINGTON,
upon information and belief
deceased, or her heirs,
devisees, assignees or
successors in interest,
have not been located and
have not filed a response to
this action, that said owner,
RAYMOND EDDLETON, has
not been located and has not
filed a response to this action;
and that any heirs, devisees,
assignees, successors in
interest, successors in title
and/or any creditors with
a current or future interest
in said property, have not
been identified and/or served
despite diligent efforts to do so
and are defendants to this suit
by the general description of
“Parties Unknown.”
IT IS ORDERED that
SHIRLEY JEFFERSON,
upon information and belief
deceased, or her heirs,
devisees, assignees or
successors in interest,
MAGGIE WASHINGTON,
upon information and belief
deceased, or her heirs,
devisees, assignees or
successors in interest,
RAYMOND EDDLETON,
and Parties Unknown, come
forward to appear on or before
SepTember 20, 2018 and do
what is necessary to protect
their interests in this matter.
An Extract, Teste: Edward F.
Jewett, Clerk
Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq.
City of Richmond, Office of
the City Attorney
900 E. Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
804-646-7940

do what is necessary to
protect their interests in this
matter.
An Extract, Teste: Edward F.
Jewett, Clerk
Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq.
City of Richmond, Office of
the City Attorney
900 E. Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
804-646-7940

CL17-6054
5221 Tilford Road
City Of Richmond v. Miles H.
Joyner, III, et al.
CL18-326
2322 Venable Street
City Of Richmond v. David
Thorne, et al.
CL17-4995
2402 Venable Street
City Of Richmond v. Horace
L. Burrell, et al.
CL18-186
2402 ½ Venable Street
City Of Richmond v. Joseph
K. Harris
CL18-1518
2402½ Rear Venable Street
City Of Richmond v. Columbus
R. Dabney, et al.
CL18-1580
2816 Wellington Street
City Of Richmond v. Mallie
Edward Crawford
CL18-1846
2401 Whitcomb Street
City Of Richmond v. Linilton
Realty Company, LLC, et al.
CL18-298
2411 Whitcomb Street
City Of Richmond v. Michael
Kilday, et al.
CL18-296
1304 Willis Street
City Of Richmond v. Clayton
Investment Group, LLC, et al.
CL17-5013
TERMS OF SALE: All sales
are subject to confirmation
by the Richmond Circuit
Court. The purchase price will
include the winning bid plus
10% of the winning bid. High
bidders will pay at the time
of the auction a deposit of at
least 20% of the purchase
price, or $2500.00, whichever
is greater. If the purchase
price is under $2500.00,
high bidders will pay in full at
the time of the auction. High
bidders will pay the balance
of the purchase price to the
Special Commissioner, and
deed recordation costs, by a
date and in a form as stated
in a settlement instruction
letter. Time is of the essence.
If a high bidder defaults by
not making these payments
in full, on time, and in the
required form, the Special
Commissioner will retain the
deposit, and may seek other
remedies to include the cost
of resale or any resulting
deficiency. Settlement shall
occur when the Richmond
Circuit Court enters an Order
of Confirmation. Conveyance
shall be either by a special
commissioner’s deed or a
special warranty deed. Real
estate taxes will be adjusted
as of the date of entry for the
Order of Confirmation.
Properties are sold “as is”
without any representations or
warranties, either expressed
or implied, subject to
the rights of any person
in possession, and to all
easements, liens, covenants,
defects, encumbrances,
adverse claims, conditions
and restrictions, whether
filed or inchoate, to include
any information a survey
or inspection of a property
may disclose. It is assumed
that bidders will make a
visual exterior inspection of
a property within the limits
of the law, determine the
suitability of a property for
their purposes, and otherwise
perform due diligence prior to
the auction.
T h e
S p e c i a l
Commissioner’s acceptance
of a bid shall not limit any
powers vested in the City of

Richmond. Additional terms
may be announced at the
time of sale. Individuals owing
delinquent taxes to the City
of Richmond, and defendants
in pending delinquent tax
cases, are not qualified to
bid at this auction. Bidders
must certify by affidavit that
they do not own, directly or
indirectly, any real estate
with outstanding notices of
violation for building, zoning
or other local ordinances.
Questions may be
directed to Gregory A.
Lukanuski at greg.lukanuski@
richmondgov.com / (804)
646-7949, or to Christie
Hamlin at christie.hamlin@
richmondgov.com / (804)
646-6940.
Gregory A. Lukanuski
Deputy City Attorney
Special Commissioner
900 East Broad Street,
Room 400
Richmond, VA 23219

VIRGINIA:
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT
OF THE COUNTY OF
CHESTERFIELD
JOCELYN STRODE,
Plaintiff
v.
ANDRE JA CHIN KING,
Defendant.
(Address Unknown)
Case No.: CL 18-1616
JUNE 29, 2018
ORDER OF PUBLICATION
The object of this suit is
to obtain a divorce a mensa et
thoro from the Defendant on
the ground of wilful desertion
or abandonement pursuant to
Section 20-95 of the Code of
Virginia, later to be merged
into a final divorce;
An Affidavit having been
filed that the Plaintiff has
been unable to locate the
Defendant, it is ORDERED
that Andre Ja Chin King
appear before this Court on
or before August 23rd, 2018,
at 8:30 a.m. and do what
is necessary to protect his
interests herein.
An Extract:
Teste: Wendy s. hughes,
Clerk
I ASK FOR THIS:
Wm J. Doran, III, J.D.
FRANCIS & DORAN
10404 Patterson Avenue,
Suite 101
Henrico, Virginia 23239
Phone: (804) 288-4004
Facsimile: (804) 288-4006

PROPERTY
Notice
Judicial Sale
of Real Property
Owner/s of the below listed
properties are hereby given
Notice that thirty days from the
date of this notice, proceedings
will be commenced under
the authority of Section
58.1-3965 et seq. of the
Code of Virginia to sell the
following parcels located in
the City of Richmond, Virginia
for payment of delinquent
taxes:
3122 1st Avenue
N0001060001
1009 North 2nd Street
N0000086012
1005 North 3rd Street
N0000088024
1903 North 25th Street
E0120398002
1108 North 26th Street
E0000519009
1813½ North 28th Street
E0120427006
1921 North 28th Street
E0120401001
1029 North 30th Street
E0000628038
1209 North 31st Street
E0000721023
1208½ North 32nd Street
E0000721013
1323 North 32nd Street
E0000801024
1423 North 32nd Street
E0000800017
239 East 36th Street
S0002602017
2 East Bacon Street
N0000228015
1800 Bainbridge Street
S0000242008
1806 aka 1804 Bainbridge
Street
S0000242005
1800 Bath Street
N0000946022
1810 Bath Street
N0000946027
405 Catherine Street
N0000208007
2611 Dale Avenue
S0090301028
4324 Ferguson Lane
C0080430024
466½ East Ladies Mile Road
N0001664005
1902 Maury Street
S0000290008
617 Northside Avenue
N0001150010
5304 Parker Street
E0100139003
3011 Q Street
E0000628004
3310 Richmond Henrico
Turnpike
N0001258012
2513 Robert Moore Circle
N0000663017
1436 Rogers Street
E0000768003
2015 Selden Street
E0120285009
3113 Veranda Avenue
N0001054021
5512 Walmsley Boulevard
C0080185036
205 Wickham Street
N0000446019
The owner/s of any property
listed may redeem it at any
time before the date of the sale
by paying all accumulated
taxes, penalties, interest and
cost thereon, including the
pro rata cost of publication
hereunder.
Gregory A. Lukanuski,
Deputy City Attorney
Office of the City Attorney
for the City of Richmond
900 East Broad Street,
Room 400
Richmond, Virginia
(804) 646-7940
VIRGINIA:
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF
THE CITY OF RICHMOND
JOHN MARSHALL
COURTS BUILDING
CITY OF RICHMOND,
Plaintiff,
v.
LILLIE REDD, et al,
Defendants.
Case No.: CL18-3604
ORDER OF PUBLICATION
The object of this suit is
to subject the property briefly
described as 615 North 30th
St, Richmond, Virginia, Tax
Map Number E000-0632/035,
to sale in order to collect
delinquent real estate taxes
assessed thereon in the name
of the owner of record, Lillie
Continued on next column

VIRGINIA:
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF
THE CITY OF RICHMOND
JOHN MARSHALL
COURTS BUILDING
CITY OF
RICHMOND,Plaintiff,
v.
NEAL KENNEDY, et al,
Defendants.
Case No.: CL18-112
ORDER OF PUBLICATION
The object of this suit is
to subject the property briefly
described as 1505 North
22nd Street, Richmond,
Virginia, Tax Map Number
E000-0778/016, to sale in
order to collect delinquent
real estate taxes assessed
thereon in the name of
the owner of record, Neil
Kennedy.
An Affidavit having been
filed that said owner, NEAL
KENNEDY, who is not a
resident of the Commonwealth
of Virginia, has not been
located and has not filed a
response to this action, and
that any heirs, devisees,
assignees, successors in
interest, successors in title
and/or any creditors with
a current or future interest
in said property, have not
been identified and/or served
despite diligent efforts to do
so and are defendants to this
suit by the general description
of “Parties Unknown.”
IT IS ORDERED that
N E A L K E N N E D Y, a n d
Parties Unknown, come
forward to appear on or before
OCTOber 25, 2018 and do
what is necessary to protect
their interests in this matter.
An Extract, Teste:
Edward F. Jewett, Clerk
Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq.
City of Richmond,
Office of the City Attorney
900 E. Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
804-646-7940
VIRGINIA:
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF
THE CITY OF RICHMOND
JOHN MARSHALL
COURTS BUILDING
CITY OF RICHMOND,
Plaintiff,
v.
WELLS FARGO BANK,
NA fka SOUTHERN BANK
AND TRUST COMPANY,
et al,
Defendants.
Case No.: CL18-3084
ORDER OF PUBLICATION
The object of this suit is
to subject the property briefly
described as 3506 Woodson
Avenue, Richmond, Virginia,
Tax Map Number N0001552/011, to sale in order to
collect delinquent real estate
taxes assessed thereon in the
name of the owner of record,
Wells Fargo Bank, NA fka
Southern Bank and Trust
Company.
An Affidavit having been
filed that any heirs, devisees,
assignees, successors in
interest, successors in title
and/or any creditors with
a current or future interest
in said property, have not
been identified and/or served
despite diligent efforts to do
so and are defendants to this
suit by the general description
of “Parties Unknown.”
IT IS ORDERED that
Parties Unknown, come
forward to appear on or before
OCTOber 25, 2018 and do
what is necessary to protect
their interests in this matter.
An Extract, Teste:
Edward F. Jewett, Clerk
Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq.
City of Richmond,
Office of the City Attorney
900 E. Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
804-646-7940
VIRGINIA: IN THE
CIRCUIT COURT OF THE
CITY OF RICHMOND
JOHN MARSHALL
COURTS BUILDING
CITY OF RICHMOND,
Plaintiff,
v.
Case No.: CL18-3498
SHIRLEY JEFFERSON, et
al, Defendants.
ORDER OF PUBLICATION
The object of this suit
is to subject the property
briefly described as 3409 S
Street, Richmond, Virginia,
Tax Map Number E0001104/005, to sale in order to
collect delinquent real estate
taxes assessed thereon in the
name of the owners of record,
Shirley Jefferson, Maggie
Washington, and Raymond
Eddleton.
An Affidavit having
been filed that said owners,
SHIRLEY JEFFERSON,
upon information and belief
Continued on next column

VIRGINIA: IN THE
CIRCUIT COURT OF THE
CITY OF RICHMOND
JOHN MARSHALL
COURTS BUILDING
CITY OF RICHMOND,
Plaintiff,
v.
Case No.: CL18-1158
DONNA MARIA
WHITE DECKER, et al,
Defendants.
ORDER OF PUBLICATION
The object of this suit
is to subject the property
briefly described as
2934 Springview Drive,
Richmond, Virginia, Tax Map
Number C009-0622/034,
to sale in order to collect
delinquent real estate taxes
assessed thereon in the name
of the owner of record, Donna
Maria White Decker.
An Affidavit having been
filed that said owner, DONNA
MARIA WHITE DECKER,
who is not a resident of the
Commonwealth of Virginia,
has not filed a response
to this action, and that any
heirs, devisees, assignees,
successors in interest,
successors in title and/or
any creditors with a current or
future interest in said property,
have not been identified and/
or served despite diligent
efforts to do so and are
defendants to this suit by
the general description of
“Parties Unknown.”
IT IS ORDERED that
DONNA MARIA WHITE
DECKER, and Parties
Unknown, come forward
to appear on or before
SepTember 20, 2018 and

VIRGINIA: IN THE
CIRCUIT COURT OF THE
CITY OF RICHMOND
JOHN MARSHALL
COURTS BUILDING
CITY OF RICHMOND,
Plaintiff,
v.
Case No.: CL18-2076
SHARONDA WARE, et al,
Defendants.
ORDER OF PUBLICATION
The object of this suit is
to subject the property briefly
described as 1406 North
32nd Street, Richmond,
Virginia, Tax Map Number
E000-0719/009, to sale in
order to collect delinquent
real estate taxes assessed
thereon in the name of the
owners of record, Sharonda
Ware, Darius Ware, Kwman
Lynch, Jaquan Lynch and
Sy-Mea Dillard.
An Affidavit having
been filed that said owners,
SHARONDA WARE, DARIUS
WARE, JAQUAN LYNCH,
and SY-MEA DILLARD,
who have been served by
posting and by mailing a
copy of the complaint to their
last known address, have not
been personally located and
have not filed a response to
this action; that said owner,
KWMAN LYNCH, has not
been located and has not filed
a response to this action; that
AUDREY J. WARE, prior
owner in chain-of- title,
or her heirs, devisees,
assignees or successors
in interest, have not been
located and have not filed
a response to this action;
and that any heirs, devisees,
assignees, successors in
interest, successors in title
and/or any creditors with
a current or future interest
in said property, have not
been identified and/or served
despite diligent efforts to do so
and are defendants to this suit
by the general description of
“Parties Unknown.”
IT IS ORDERED that
S H A R O N D A WA R E ,
DARIUS WARE, JAQUAN
LYNCH, SY-MEA DILLARD,
KWMAN LYNCH, AUDREY
J. WARE, prior owner in
chain-of- title, or her heirs,
devisees, assignees or
successors in interest, and
Parties Unknown, come
forward to appear on or before
SepTember 20, 2018 and do
what is necessary to protect
their interests in this matter.
An Extract, Teste: Edward F.
Jewett, Clerk
Gregory A. Lukanuski, Esq.
City of Richmond, Office of
the City Attorney
900 E. Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
804-646-7940

other
VIRGINIA:
IN THE GENERAL
DISTRICT COURT FOR
THE CITY OF RICHMOND
TAMMY R. LEE-GULLEY,
Plaintiff
v.
DONYELLE WHITEHEAD
and ANOITED ONEZ
TRUCKING LLC,
Defendants.
Case No.: GV17038949-00
ORDER OF PUBLICATION
The object of this abovestyled suit is to recover for a
breach of contract.
And, it appearing by
affidavit filed according to
law that Donyelle Whitehead,
one of the above-named
defendants, cannot be
located, it is therefore
ORDERED that the said
Donyelle Whitehead needs
to appear on October 9,
2018 at 10:00 AM, before this
Court, whose address is 400
North 9th Street, Richmond,
Virginia 23219 and do what
is necessary to protect their
interests.
An Extract:
Teste: SANDRA C. BLOUNT,
Clerk
Benjamin M. Andrews
(VSB No. 77824)
AndrewsBrown PLC
5711 Greendale Road
Henrico, VA 23228
Telephone: (804) 918-2091
Facsimile: (888) 568-2684
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
The University of Virginia
seeks a firm to provide:
Cooling Towers and Heat
Exchangers
To view a copy of
RFP # DM080118
go to Procurement Services
Site: http://www.procurement.
virginia.edu/main/publicpostings/RFP.html, or email pur-rfp@
virginia.edu

Applications are now being accepted for the
following positions.
PCA or CNA needed for 12 hour shift.
House-keeper (Part-time)
Please bring a curent TB report when applying.
All references will be checked.
Good pay – Good days off.
Call for appointment. Tel: 222-5133

Thank you for your interest in applying
for opportunities with The City of Richmond.
To see what opportunities are available,
please refer to our website at
www.richmondgov.com.
EOE M/F/D/V

To advertise in the

Richmond Free Press
call 644-0496

B6 August 9-11, 2018

Richmond Free Press

Sports Plus

Photos by Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Fan Appreciation Day

Hundreds of fans and autograph seekers flocked to the Washington
professional football team’s training field to hobnob with their favorite
players during last Saturday’s Fan Appreciation Day. Following practice, wide receiver Darvin Kidsy, above, signs footballs and other team
paraphernalia for fans of all ages. Safety Kenny Ladler, left, cuts in to
snatch a catch from wide receiver Cam Sims. Below right, a trainer
works with a player on stretches, an important part of the practice session. Outside the gate, below, Stephen Rivera of Richmond protests the
team’s racist name and mascot, which are offensive to many Native
Americans.

Washington fans looking for Doctson to break out
By Fred Jeter

When Washington selected Josh Doctson in
the first round of the 2016 NFL draft, fans hoped
his career would take off like a jackrabbit.
Instead, his progress has been more akin to
a tortoise.
The native Texan needs to pick it up in the
coming months if the Washington team is to be
a contender in the tough NFC East.
Doctson’s 2016 rookie season was derailed
by an Achilles tendon injury. He saw limited
action and caught just two passes.
Washington fans saw a healthier Doctson
in 2017, although he missed much of training
camp with a tender hamstring.
In his second NFL season, Doctson made 35
catches for 502 yards — nice numbers but not
what’s expect from a No. 1 pick.
He finished the season on a down note,
with just five grabs in the last four games as
Washington closed 9-7, missing the playoffs for
a second straight year.
Then came a major scare on Aug. 1 in a
practice session at the Bon Secours Training
Center on Richmond’s North Side. Following
a collision with teammate Josh Norman, Doctson had to be helped off the field, and fears
spread that he may have a serious collar bone
or shoulder injury.
Washington fans let out a collection “whew”
when MRI results came back negative. Doctson
missed a couple days of contact but appears
good to go.
“Josh is OK. Everything checked out fine,”

Josh Doctson

Coach Jay Gruden told the media last week.
Doctson has what every coach is looking for
in a wide receiver. He was measured at 6-foot2, 202 pounds, at the NFL Combine in 2016.
He covered the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds,
bench pressed 225 pounds for 14 repetitions

and unleashed a 10-foot-11 standing broad jump Doctson, Washington features wideouts Jamison
and 41-inch vertical leap.
Crowder and Paul Richardson, tight ends Jordan
With a new starting quarterback, Alex Smith, Reed and Vernon Davis, and ever-dangerous Chris
in town, it’s about time for Doctson to translate Thompson streaking out of the backfield.
those physical assets to Sunday game times in
In his fourth year out of Duke University,
coming months.
5-foot-9 Crowder made 66 receptions for 789
Washington fans are hopeful that this season, yards a year ago.
Doctson will approach his dazzling college
Free agent acquisition Richardson, a former
statistics at Texas Christian University. As a second round draft choice, had 44 grabs for 703
TCU senior in 2015, Doctson had 79 catches yards a year ago for the Seattle Seahawks.
for 1,327 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Few NFL franchises boast a more glowing
The 25-year-old promises big things are history of wide receivers than Washington.
around the corner.
Bobby Mitchell, Charley Taylor, Ark Monk,
“I’m looking to do huge things,” he told the Santana Moss, Gary Clark and others rank
Free Press. “The biggest thing on this level is among sports’ elite.
confidence. Last year kind of calmed it down,
Doctson has the assets to join that list.
and now I’m back like I was at
TCU.”
Hauling them in
So far Doctson has enjoyed
Washington’s all-time pass receivers (Statistics based on
working with Smith, who came
the players’ seasons with Washington only):
from the Kansas City Chiefs as a
free agent to replace the departed
Seasons in D.C. Catches Yards TDs
Kirk Cousins, who is now with
• Art Monk
1980-1993
888
12,026 65
Minnesota.
•
Charley
Taylor
1964-1977
649
9,110
79
“It’s been amazing. It’s been
Santana
Moss
2005-2014
581
7,867
47
fun,” Doctson said of working
Gary Clark
1985-1992
549
8,742
58
with Smith.
Chris Cooley 2004-2012
429
4,711
33
The 34-year-old Smith passed
Jerry Smith
1968-1977
421
5,496
60
for 26 touchdowns and 4,402 yards
Ricky Sanders 1986-1993
414
5,854
36
a year ago for the Chiefs.
• Bobby Mitchell 1962-1968
393
6,492
49
Smith’s 104.7 overall quarterPierre Garcon 2012-2016
376
4,549
21
back ranking in 2017 is an upgrade
from Cousins’ 93.9.
Mike Westbrook 1995-2001
277
4,280
24
• NFL Hall of Fame member
There are targets aplenty on the
D.C. depth chart. In addition to